Peace Treaty
by 19.Shymuffins
Summary: When there is a mysterious alien that comes to earth, Tony attempts to find out more. Things turn worse when he contacts the Wakandan king to study her, unknowingly meeting up with the other half of the Avengers again. Will the Avengers find a way to stick together or will they fall apart? [ON HOLD until I can think of how to end this plot. So sorry]
1. Prologue

It was the red guy that found her first. Strange, she did not remember that the inhabitants of this asteroid were red. Yet, as she looked at him, she couldn't help but wonder why the inhabitants decided to let him roam freely. After all, they had kept her in this containment area because they didn't understand who she was. And that was reasonable. She would have done the same, although that didn't mean that she was happy about it. The last time they tried to poke her with thin metal strips and attempted feebly to prod her and attach some beeping box to her, she fried every single wire, melted each box and almost burned the inhabitants in white cloth that smelled of...something. So, they sent her to this containment area, watched her, spoke to her, fed her. All in an attempt to understand her. She chuckled, these inhabitants were so primitive, she found their primal state almost unbearably cute. Like younglings, who followed with eyes of bewilderment, believing everything anyone said. Like younglings who tried to prove that they were right, even when whatever they did was illogical. Didn't they know the best way to understand someone was to listen? Communicate?

She would not be communicating with anyone this cycle, she was sure, not with transparent walls so thick she bet her fellowmen couldn't drill through it with their best machines. Not that it mattered, she had no intention of escaping just yet. She was having fun, watching those two-legged creatures hustle about, scurrying on their awkward feet. Her ears picked up each and every word they said and as they ran about, pressing weird boxes, which she assumed would aid in monitoring her, she let their language swirl around her. The dull words formed surreal yet serrated pitches and as they bounced off the walls and flickered in her head, forming a melody of sorts, filled with cracks that she couldn't decipher. Slowly, though, the words gained color and as they expanded into a tapestry of expression, she smiled as each word found a place among the unknown gaps.

And then she understood.


	2. I Wish to Understand It

Vision walked around the compound. He would have floated around if not for the fact that the lab was filled with humans who watched and tested and analysed. He recalled how three weeks, two days and two hundred and fifty-seven minutes ago, he was searching the remains of a crater in Mexico that Mr Stark and Colonel Ross were investigating when he found her. He reported it, seeing it was the most logical thing to do. What was illogical was the humans' response; locking her up in this cell. Now, he watched from the observatory as the girl in white quietly swivelling her head, her eyes following the professors and doctors who passed by her cell. The cell where Wanda used to be in, Vision recalled. She, along with the others, had escaped approximately 263 days and 14 hours ago and according to Mr Stark, that was the Captain's doing. Apparently, the cell was now the containment quarters of this strange female.

She reminded him of Wanda, but her hair was too straight. Her eyes were too orange, a hundred and thirty-two shades lighter. Her face was seventy-four point five degrees too sharp, her eyebrows 204 millimetres too high. And her hands never waved and danced about, she was too stiff. But, the most obvious difference was that she was not tied up in a blue jacket, which made him feel...something, he wasn't sure what. Still, he was sure the female didn't particularly enjoy being locked up, even though she was not expressing her discontentment.

"She's been like this for a week." Vision turned and saw Mr Stark, making his way through the scientists and greeted him. Mr Stark turned to the monitors that observed this strange girl and mentioned something to the scientists around him.

"It's fascinating," Vision mused after a while, "what humans do with something they cannot understand."

"Oh sure, release her. She could be a threat for all we know, Vision. Let her go free and boom, we are going to be held accountable and another hundred and something countries will be after us...again. You know how accidents happen? When someone gets careless and-"

"I understand. But would it hurt to bring her a bed?"

"I don't control what's happening here, whatever they do, it's them, not me." He paused and snapped his fingers three times, before exclaiming, "That's probably something you want to jot down in your brain, human politics and hierarchy. Would do you some good, especially if you wanna stick around, get things done. Funny thing, androids, do they have a system? Do AIs go around and whatever they say, other machines take their word for it?"

Vision frowned. What "good" would come out of learning how political parties operated with each other? "She appears to be in a stage of discomfort."

"That's her problem. Not everyone has a good life, I just happen to be the better few."

"But we already robbed her of her freedom."

"At least it's better than-"

"What do you think Mr Rogers would say about..."

"Vision, please." Mr Stark bit his lip and avoided his glance. Vision kept silent for a while, unsure of whether he should apologise.

Suddenly, the female stood up. She twitched her fingers and looked at the camera. She looked at the professor, then at the camera. The humans were starting to panic, but Vision wasn't sure why. She was just standing up. He calculated that she had been sitting in that position for about two hundred and fifty-seven minutes, surely her muscles must have ached. She would have a 78.36% chance of having the desire to stretch. Beside him, Mr Stark was touching his watch, ready to summon his armour. Vision noticed the female deliberately put her hand on the glass walls of her container and slowly inched towards the glass, all the while never taking her eyes off the camera. Suddenly, the lights started to dim and brighten in repeated patterns. From where he was standing, Vision looked out of the observatory and saw the girl's eyes flickering with the lights. He wasn't sure what to do. The professor was starting to reach for the alarm button. Tony shuffled beside him. Just as the professor's fingers touched the alarm, the female stepped back and everything went back to normal. She swung her gaze to the observatory room and locked eyes with Vision. It was only after she sat back down that he remembered.

The window was a one-way mirror.

...

"Hello, Miss."

The android landed behind the glass wall, separating him from the girl. She looked up. It was closing hours and most people had gone off. Tony and a few others were preoccupied with increasing security protocols and discussing what today's events meant so that would guarantee him two hours and thirty-seven minutes, forty if he was fortunate.

"I'm here to help, how may I be of assistance."

The girl stared blankly at him, Vision caught her fingers curl inward slightly. Immediately, he calculated several probabilities, that she was frightened, that she was curious or that she felt awkward. The girl stared at him for a couple of minutes before looking down again. She twirled the end of her white gown, playing with the probably strange piece of apparel that the humans forced her to put on. The girl kept quiet.

He tried again. No response. And again. She didn't answer. He tried forty-seven times before thinking of ways to get her to respond. It was pointless asking if she understood him, because if she didn't, she couldn't reply and if she did, Vision calculated that she would have an 87.3% chance of remaining quiet. He gestured to the uneaten plate of prison food that was left in the cell and asked if she was going to eat that in 572 languages before pointing to his open mouth and pointing at her. The girl, all the while, clamped her mouth shut. Although she was listening to him because when he started speaking another language, the girl's hands curled inwards more and her eyebrows shifted three millimetres higher.

After two hours and twenty-five minutes, Vision had asked her twenty-seven questions, each in 347 languages, showed her four images of earth and fifty-five pictures of the top 5% commonly used items with their names. Yet, she had just sat still, only occasionally looking up when paused between sentences to catch his breath. Vision was starting to feel disappointed that she wouldn't respond. In his mind, he theorised that it could be because she didn't understand him, she was frightened of him, she couldn't talk, or she didn't want to reveal something. He sighed, frustrated that his efforts went to waste, a habit he had no doubt learned from Wanda.

As he took a step towards the door, he heard a hollow but firm and tender voice.

"They're coming."

He turned and the girl before him had lain down on the floor, body curled and eyes closed. He took her advice and phased through the ceiling instead. Before he left, Vision was certain he saw the girl's lips fold into a smile.


	3. You Seem a Little Defensive

Tony entered the compound, catching the captive girl giving a small grin before her face shifted to her usual stern expression. She looked away as if embarrassed that Tony had caught her stealing something. Tony frowned, she had never behaved like this before but he continued viewing the cameras. He played it backed a few hours, watching what had happened when he was in the meeting.

No one had ever found out what happened to Cap and his team. Oddly enough, every time he tried to call the Captain, he was either too busy with something or refused to pick up the phone. The last time he tried to call the Captain- was it two months ago?- he was directed to voicemail. As his eyes scanned the video, his mind drifted away and he imagined what the Captain and the rest of his team would be doing now. Rogers and the Winter Soldier would probably be training somewhere, Wanda would be sleeping...Sam seemed like the sort of guy who would wake up late at night and snack. As for Barton, he wasn't sure. He wanted to visit his family recently, but it seemed they had moved house a long time ago. Which, he felt would be better for the both of them, given the fact that he wouldn't want to ask Clint's family where the archer was. The new guy what's-his-name?- seemed like fun to hang out with. His focus shifted back to the video and he noticed the screen started to glitch. The screen lights flickered in and out and occasionally there were small flares of white light around the screen.

"What the-?" Stark slammed his palm on the side of the monitor, pressing several buttons at the side of the monitor. The flares refused to go away. He looked at the girl, whose eyes were now pulsing in a similar manner to the way the screen moved. Frustrated, Tony got up and strode towards the girl, brows bent in annoyance. The girl flinched slightly and moved back.

"Whatever you think you are doing, stop it," Stark growled, "You are only going to make things worse for yourself."

The girl's eyes returned to normal and she blinked. "How so?" she answered. Her eyes were lined with bitter disdain and her hands repetitively tapped the sides of her arm.

Tony was taken aback, but not for long. Somehow, he knew the girl actually understood him, so he was merely surprised she would communicate back. After all, there were many failed attempts at holding a conversation. He bit his lip.

"What are you?"

"You didn't answer my question?" Raising an eyebrow, she gestured at the room. "I thought humans were nice things?"

"Yeah?" Stark muttered, "You interfered with the cameras. I wouldn't call it nice. In fact, here's a word for you, I call it "rude". And if you were polite, you'd introduce yourself. Now."

The girl paused, her fingers curling inwards and out. "Why don't you start first? I'm a visitor, you are the..." she trailed off, not knowing the word.

Tony laughed, it had been awhile since he last laughed like that. He stifled another grin, "Host." He paused, not knowing if it would be wise to give her what she wanted. Suddenly, he realised that he was alone and he wasn't wearing his suit. The girl could probably take him down if she wanted to. He reprimanded himself for letting his guard down, he still was unsure of this girl's motives yet. He was getting more cautious lately, although Ms Potts had said it was turning to paranoia. Who could blame him? After what had happened, Ultron and then the Accords, now this? He was careful not to make another costly mistake.

"What were you hiding?" His face dropped to a solemn gaze, his words were laced with unspoken threats. "Why did you block those cameras?"

The girl blinked, caught off-guard by his sudden change. She thought for awhile, before speaking. "It was the red guy...I...I didn't know if he was allowed to come in here or not, but he came and he tried to get me to speak. I was only helping him. But I think he wouldn't mind letting you know, you two seem like friends."

 _Vision_. Tony thought. Of course, the android would have done that. He was far too compassionate, but that only made him more naive. It did not help that this girl bore some resemblance to Wanda. At least from the back. Although Tony noted that she was definitely taller, but when she sat down, he was reminded of the Slokovian girl. No doubt, Vision would be thinking of Wanda when he saw her. He groaned, hoping that Vision hadn't said anything too valuable. As if on cue, the female mentioned that Vision had only spoken about irrelevant ideas, asking her to eat or if she would like something to drink. She then asked if she had gotten the android into trouble and apologised for it.

Tony smiled. _No, he wouldn't be punished. After all, even he himself was not supposed to be here._

"He'll be fine." He rubbed his forehead, he had already hacked the cameras beforehand but Vision still was caught on screen. He would have to delete those files and replace it with extra footage.

Suddenly, there was a loud thump from the outside. Tony's heart raced and instantly dashed towards the computers. The girl blinked in shock, realising that Tony had snuck in here. Her eyes grew darker.

"Go, I'll help you." With her fingers rippling, she brushed her arm to the side and instantly, a dark cloud surrounded Tony and her cage became significantly brighter. She sat down and closed her eyes, feigning sleep, just before the doors flew open and two security guards stumbled in. Tony's fingers trembled as he worked on deleting those files, eyes darting between the monitors and the guards, who were moving considerably closer to his location. His heart was racing in his chest. He glanced at the monitors.

 _Deleting files, 30 more seconds._

The guards stepped closer, flashlights pointing in the darkness.

 _Deleting files, 20 more seconds..._

Their flashlights started to dim, which caused the both of them to pause in their steps.

 _Deleting files, 10 more seconds..._

Tony glanced around for an exit path, making himself as small as possible.

 _Deleting files, 5 more seconds..._

The guards turned around, looking for spare batteries in the drawer that was dangerously close to Tony's hiding spot.

 _Files deleted...downloading alternate files...30%..._

The guard dropped a battery near Tony's foot. He shuffled back in terror, as the guard bent down, arms reaching out to grab it.

 _Downloading alternate files...55%..._

Tony's heart nearly stopped when the guard's fingers brushed the tip of his sole. He inched his shoe further in, using his fingers to slide the battery closer to the guard's hands.

 _Downloading alternate files...72%..._

The guard's fingers clasped the battery cell and slinked away and out of sight. Tony heaved a sigh of relief and slid away, glancing at the monitors, fingers curled into a fist and getting ready to fight if necessary.

 _Downloading alternate files...99%..._

Come on, Tony thought, come on, come on, come on. The guards slid the cover of the flashlight off, providing a shelter of darkness that Tony gratefully used to get himself towards the exit, the cloud of darkness barricading him and the active monitor from the guards' eyes.

 _Downloading alternate files...99%..._

The guards slid the final battery cell into their flashlights, placing the cover back onto the torches and giving them a solid whack to ensure they were still working. The bulbs remained suspiciously dim, so the guards whacked the flashlights harder. A beam of light exposed Tony's suit for a split second, causing him to hold his breath. The guards didn't seem to notice however and Tony inched towards the door.

 _Files downloaded, monitor shutting down and restarting._

Tony whipped out of the door and travelled to the escalator, making a frenzied getaway. As he entered his private helicopter, he marvelled at the powers this girl seemed to possess and wondered what else the girl could do. He was sure she was responsible for making the flashlights dim. It showed that the girl was something not to be messed with, yet Tony could not help but wonder if she was sent here or crashed landed her. If she was sent, what for? To observe? Experiment? Eliminate?

Could the Avengers stop her then? If they were now separated and torn apart. Would they band together again to stop her?

"What are you?" He murmured.


	4. Table for One, Mr Stank!

"Well, well, if it ain't Mr Stank here!" Col. Rhodes chirped, firmly placing a shoulder on Tony's arm and giving it a squeeze. "It's been a while since you visited, must be busy with the new prisoner, eh?"

He winked at Tony, causing the man's lips to curl upward. Tony clasped Rhodes shoulder tightly and greeted him. It was good to see an old friend again. They sat down and began talking about mundane things, the sort you'd expect two men to talk about. The topic of their conversations fluctuated, moving from sports to work to which restaurant had the best shwarma. Stark said it was the one at New York, causing Rhodes to give him a shrug. Tony laughed when Rhodes commented on his hair becoming greyer, smugly remarking that Tony was old enough to be a grandad. Stark pointed at Rhodes and rebutted his point with a statement about how the Colonel's beard was studded with white as well. The man gave a chuckle. He reached for the black mini-fridge Stark had given him a year ago for his birthday, along with a collection of 80s CDs of his favourite bands. He grinned as he remembered that among the bundle of gifts, there was an Iron Patriot plushie, on it, a note saying "WARMACHINEROX" with a smiley face. Opening the mini-fridge, Rhodes took out a can of Red Bull and tossed it to Tony. He opened another and the two of them clinked cans before gulping it down. Rhodes finished the last few drops of his drink, crushing the empty can and dunked it in a trashcan a few feet away. The flattened aluminium can slid into the bin with a quiet clatter. Rhodes punched the air and howled, tapping his back and mimicking the roars of a spectator crowd in the NBA finals.

"Still got it! Still got it, even after I stopped walking, my hands still got it!"

Tony grinned, sipping his drink and watching Rhodes celebrate his 3-pointer. Recently, he had built an exoskeleton for Rhodes, but the doctors had recommended he get some more rest before walking again. Stark recalled how he had almost beaten the doctor who had suggested Rhodes stop trying to walk, but the Colonel had calmed him down. Rhodes was willing to wait several weeks more before he could begin to try standing, but Tony did not have the patience. He wanted his friend to walk again.

Rhodes, seeing that Tony was staring at his legs again, decided to speak up.

"Hey, stop thinking about whatever it is you're thinking. It's not gonna' change this." He tapped his legs lightly.

Tony sighed, brushing his fringe backwards and combing his hair, his hands gradually slowing down until they stopped. He rubbed his face and covered his eyes, wringing his hands in agitation.

"I should have seen it coming, I should have dropped down earlier. I signed the Accords, I was the one who made you do this, I shouldn't..." Tony paused, choking slightly, before his voice became low, "I shouldn't have done what I did."

"Tony, I told you. It's not your fault. Things happen, they happen for a reason. You know, ever since I lost the ability to walk, I've been able to take a break from politics and war. Which is great for me. Not all accidents are bad, Tony, and I refuse to see it that way. So stop blaming yourself or wishing it could have been different..."

Tony nodded. Rhodes then smiled and continued chatting heartily.

"How's Vision doing? Fine?"

"Yeap," Stark rumbled and heaved himself off the couch, walking to Rhodes' kitchen for a snack. "He's alright. But he's a little upset as to why we gotta' keep her in the cell."

"Her? Wanda? He's still not over that?" Rhodes turned to face him. "Top shelf, red door, pull it open."

Tony opened the cabinet, his hands reaching for a jar of digestive oatmeal biscuits. "What? You still eating this junk?" He popped one into his mouth before spitting it into the nearby sink, wiping his mouth and rinsing it with water. His face scowled and his tongue stuck out in disgust.

"No, I'm talking about the prisoner." He coughed twice, picking up a cup of water and chugging it down, stating in between gulps that they had been trying to communicate with the strange woman they had found, with only several attempts being successful. Vision, meanwhile, had been the first successful attempt, Tony the second, but the only problem was that they had done it in secret. Ross, as far as Stark knew, was unaware that the girl could speak. Still, no one had been able to find out what her motives were and she obviously seemed quite powerful. As Tony described how she had helped him get out and blocked him from seeing the videos, Rhodes gave a small whistle.

"So, she is some kind of light girl? What else?"

"That's just it, we don't know." Tony sighed and threw his arms in the air. He sat back down beside the Colonel and hunched over. "And, you know Ross, what he can't control, he's gonna' lock up. Very tightly."

Rhodes nodded, remembering what had happened to half of the Avengers the last time. Neither he nor Tony had expected or prepared for what Ross was going to do to their team, their friends. Most of all, he was taken by surprise when he was informed that they had strapped poor Wanda in a blue straight jacket and placed a taser tag around her neck. Almost instantly, he felt bad that he was part of the team who had taken the "prisoners" in and helped to capture the remaining "rebels". He felt worse when he couldn't do anything about it as he had already signed the Accords.

He thought for awhile on how to make the situation better. He wasn't sure about letting the girl loose, but he didn't want her to stay captive forever. Moreover, he was pretty sure Ross would oppose taking her out for a parole. It wasn't as if she had committed a crime to be placed in the cell, she was just there because it was safer for everyone. The option of letting her go free didn't seem especially enticing either, given the fact that they still had no clue who she was. Or what she wanted. The option of letting her remain didn't seem like a good choice either, it would only render her skills useless. Besides, if she had really been from another planet, she could be part of humanity's progress in making allies with intergalactic beings. Even if she was rogue, at least they could use her to learn more about space and science. If she had come on a peaceful basis, then it would allow Earth to have one more ally who could perhaps aid in preventing worldwide destruction. She just had to sign the Accords and she would be fighting side by side with the Avengers. But, would she?

 _Rhodes, you're getting ahead of yourself._ He shook his head. There was no way to convince Ross to allow her to run free if she didn't agree to the Accords. He would not allow another rogue super-being on the lose, not after what had happened. Ross would never approve any of his of Stark's proposals if it involved giving liberty to an unidentified alien who could control light. Unless...

"Tony, did T'Challa sign the Accords?"

Stark looked up. "Remind me again why you are a genius."

Tony grabbed his belongings and left, "Friday, when I get home, remind me to call T'Challa. I have a present for him."

"Your Highness," the tall and slender woman spoke in Wakandan, "someone is looking for you. He goes by the name Tony Stark."

T'Challa raised an eyebrow, _could not Mr Stark call the Captain instead?_ He nodded, telling his secretary to put him on the phone. He sighed, eyeing the stack of documents that had to be read, endless reports and multiple meetings. They would have to wait for later, he supposed. Not that he had zero responsibilities as a prince, but the moment he had become King, it seemed as though his duties had almost quadrupled. Not to mention, he did not yet have a son by his side to manage and share his burdens. The phone rang and he picked it up, placing it on speakers as he continued looking through the proposals his men had drafted.

"Hi, er...T'Cha, say, it's been awhile." Tony's voice sounded over the speakers. His bodyguards frowned at the man's disrespectful tone and use of words, but the King shrugged it off. He could hardly imagine Tony addressing him otherwise, finding it humorous if he were to do so. But he was in a bad mood. And very busy today.

"State your business, quickly. I have many things to do." He puffed.

Tony seemed taken aback by his sudden outburst of frustration, but he made haste and continued.

"Uhm, well, we found something the other day, Vision and me. You know how Wakanda has a ton of science things and whatever? Well, this thing, I think it might help your country become more...scientific. So it's a win-win...I mean, it would benefit your country, Wakanda...I'm so bad at proposals. What do you think?"

T'Challa closed his eyes, flicking his hands to signal his men to stand outside.

"What is this..."thing" you were mentioning?"


	5. It's Been a Long Day

The girl had recently been transported to Wakanda, Stark had received news that some of the Wakandan scientists had started probing her with questions, but she had only chosen to reply some of them. They apparently found out that she was from another planet, one not known to Earth's scientists and that she responded to the name Su'mhea. He requested for a flight to Wakanda, but the Black Panther was rather apprehensive about it. Stark decided he would fly there himself and if they shot him...well, he didn't think they would harm an ally. Donning on his armour, he heard the reassuring clink of the metal lock on his back and sighed. He missed this feeling.

Firing up the engines, he spiralled into the air, exiting the Avengers compound and gave a victory cry.

"Friday set me a course for Wakanda. I'm paying a visit to T'Cha."

"Yes, boss. Would you like me to inform him?"

"No, let's surprise him. It's not like we're going there to steal vibranium or something."

...

The girl, now given proper clothing, examined the room around her. Outside, the flora was spectacular, nothing like she had seen before. She placed her hand on the transparent walls, which she had learnt were called glass. She watched as the wind whistled through the yellow fields, sprinting through the valley and stirring up the vegetation, beckoning to the white trees as it passed them in the silver mist. She breathed in, the strong scent of Blue Grass and other African spices made her feel calm and warm and nostalgic, filling her with delight and wonder. It made her miss home dearly. The Wakandans had been more polite than the other people from America, they had given her liberty to walk around. The guards, female warriors who seemed graceful and strong, followed her everywhere she went. She was only given privacy when she was sleeping or in this room.

She had been examined by the Wakandan scientists, they were so full of questions. She was forced to sit in a chair and reply all of their, usually, personal questions. They asked her about her diet, her planet, her intentions. They made her cast shadows and burn items she didn't recognise. Just a couple of hours ago, she had been asked to melt a silver substance down. She had obliged but it took her a lot of energy and a long time, much to the surprise of many people in the room. After she reached this room, where they allowed her to stay in, she had slumped down on the mattress, exhausted. The scientists had also prodded her with thin, prickly things and drew blood samples. She didn't enjoy those sessions. But she had been told she would be locked up if she wasn't cooperative, so she was forced to play along. One of the scientists irritated her so much that she almost unleashed a ball of light in an attempt to silence him, but the other scientist had quickly calmed her down. It seemed clear that they were trying to find out more about her, so she made it a priority to inform them she wasn't intending to harm them. Although it was unbearably tempting to, since all they ever did was fry her mind with questions.

Ever since she got here, she had been alternating between feeling bored or being tired. The guards had changed every few hours, most of them didn't look like the sort she would want to talk to, although there were several other guards who were friendly enough to hold a conversation. Still, it was better than being locked up in a glass room with thirty or so people buzzing by and making notes every time she flinched. She stared at the book in front of her, absorbing the Wakandan phrases and words. H'fi had given it to her. She had been wanting to learn the Wakandan language since she had nothing else to do and the Wakandan guard agreed to give her a copy of this book. The girl flipped through the pages, memorising each word with relative ease. She giggled as she recalled how H'fi had been shocked when she found out that the strange girl with orange eyes and fire hair could remember everything just by looking. H'fi immediately asked her to recite things from memory and she obliged. Pity, it was not H'fi's shift now, else she could be practising her Wakandan. In fact, the guards that used to watch her room had now left the scene to fetch their King, who apparently wanted to see the new stranger.

"Miss?"

She looked up. There was a man in a blue jacket with the yellow hair outside her room. He was tall and whiter than most of the Wakandans. He didn't seem to be a native since his skin was paler than the rest. She placed her book on a bedside table. She stood up, narrowing her eyes to appear more aggressive.

"Who are you? You don't seem to be from around here."

"Neither do you."

She sighed, showing frustration in an attempt to make him give in. He caved and she hid a smile.

"I'm from America, a friend of T'Challa."

"And who would that be?"

The stranger stared at her, eyebrows raised. He ignored her question and took a step closer. She blinked as the man stretched out his hand, then waited for her to respond. When she didn't, he pulled back his arm.

"You can call me Steve."

"Captain," A deep voice came from the doorway, "you shouldn't be here."

Both of them turned to face the door. In the doorway, stood the Wakandan King, shoulders squared and head held high. Behind him, stood a shorter man, who had a whiter skin, much like Steve. Only, he had a beard and brown hair and eyes. And his face was full of shock. The Captain smirked, shaking his head.

"Your Majesty." He turned to the shorter man. "Tony."

The two men were now standing opposite each other, neither appearing very happy. Both wore a stern expression and had their hands in their pockets.

"Didn't expect that you'd run here." Stark began, his voice full of resent. He glared at the Captain, before glancing away outside. "Of course, you would have wanted somewhere comfy, huh?"

"Stark, I'm-"

"And, you know, I'm surprised you still have the guts to stand here and face me." He glared back at the Captain. "What, I tried to contact you...and your response? Nothing...zero...none. Ha, and I'm beginning to think you don't want the team back together."

"Sorry."

"So you're apologising now. Funny. I thought you were above that." Tony paused, looking down at his feet. Both were awkwardly silent for a couple of minutes. Tony opened his mouth. "The weather's nice outside."

Steve smiled, happy that Stark wanted to talk about something else. "How's you and Pepper?"

"We're getting back together. Slowly. It's...we're not...not rushing things."

"That's good. And Rhodes?"

"He's fine, recovering. He can stand with help from some equipment, but doctors want him to rest."

The Captain nodded, upset that Stark was giving him short answers. He bargained in his mind that at least, they could still talk about other things, instead of arguing or mentioning about what had happened. Healing took time and he was sure after what he had done, it would take a while for Tony and him to finally see eye to eye again. He missed those times where he and Tony could just hang out. Although for the most part, they had their own opinions, there was not as much tension between them as compared to now.

"You still haven't signed the Accords yet, right?"

Steve chuckled, glancing at the girl. "Let's not do this here. The Accords were the thing that tore us apart in the first place."

"Yeah?" Tony breathed, about to continue when he noticed Su'mhea's worried expression. He sighed and pat Steve on the shoulder. "Good to see you, pal. We'll talk later."

He brushed past Steve and faced Su'mhea. T'Challa walked past the Captain.

"I would advise you to wait outside."

Steve nodded, gave a curt bow to T'Challa. He glanced at Tony one more time, who didn't look back at him, before leaving the room. He sighed, wondering if he should have at least picked up one of those calls.

...

The blonde man stared blankly at the door of the prisoner's room. He patiently waited for Tony and T'Challa to finish interrogating the woman. He wasn't sure if he wanted them to come out soon or take a longer time. Half of him wanted to meet Tony again, the other apparently wanted to smash his face. He understood why Tony would be upset over Bucky, he just wasn't sure why he couldn't understand that Bucky was a changed man now.

The door slid open and Tony briskly waltzed over to him, hands folded and eyes furrowed. The Wakandan King followed behind before hurriedly taking his leave, saying that he needed to attend to other duties. Steve, however, was stuck with his former friend. He began the conversation with bated breath.

"You're keeping her contained?"

"It's better than what she went through in the cage." Tony turned to face him, tip-toeing slightly to match his gaze with the taller man. "Why are you here? How did you know about...this and I'm guessing you either left your phone on silent or that old brain of yours forgot how to operate a cell phone?"

"I didn't know you would be coming."

"Would that change anything?" He sniffed and scoffed. "You didn't answer my questions."

The Captain paused in his tracks, not wishing to agitate Tony anymore.

"I saw Wakandans transporting someone here, came and found out about this woman. I heard she's been kept here for a while. So I got suspicious and started finding out about why they wanted this lady here. She seemed innocent enough and-"

"If you see a situation pointed south, you can't ignore it." The man finished, inducing memories of past bouts and arguments.

"I didn't want people to hurt my friend, Tony. It was the only thing I could think of. Bucky and I, we go way back. To see him used by others, hurt and broken by Hydra was heartbreaking. I couldn't just let you finish him off there. He deserves a chance, I know he's the one responsible for your family but it wasn't him!"

Tony's face hardened.

Steve stopped, hoping he hadn't said too much. Had he made things worse? Would Tony realise that Bucky was here and if he did, what would he do? He watched as his former friend pushed past him and faced a corner. He could swear he heard sobs, but it could be the ventilation system. He watched as the man placed a hand on his forehead, bringing it down to his face.

"I was more upset that you had to choose between two people. And you decided to leave me hanging."

"I'm sorry. But Bucky is not the one to blame for what happened, it's Hydra. I couldn't let him take the blame."

"Of course..."

"Stark, please, I'm trying not to mess things up. I don't want to rock this boat harder than I should."

"Then stop creating big storms! For once think of the team and what your actions could do to us!"

Steve paused and chuckled. He found it hilariously ironic that this man was the one who was telling him off for being self-centered. He recalled how he had once scolded the man for not being able to make any "sacrifice-play". Stark frowned, cursing to himself before grumbling, "Are you serious, right now?"

"Sorry, it's just...to think I previously thought you were the selfish one."

Stark snickered, noticeably glad to have found a flaw in Rogers. "We've changed."

The Captain nodded, unsure if Tony realised, but his statement provided hope that they could reconcile somewhere in the future. For now, Steve was glad to have another friend by his side, since Bucky had been in cryo. He patted his friend and walked away.

"Hey, your side of the team ready for a fight?"

Steve narrowed his eyes.

"Why?"


	6. I Know You Too, You're Great!

Su'mhea's eyes darkened, bringing a cloud of darkness upon the spherical object. The scientists around her shone a light into the darkness, slowly increasing its intensity but the lady simply filtered out the light. Steve and Tony watched from the side, while T'Challa was on the observatory deck above, keeping an eye on her in case something went wrong. The scientists kept this up for about fifteen minutes, before sounding the buzzer, indicating the end of another test. They then told the lady to begin by melting a stick of vibranium. This time, they had sprayed the Vibranium with ice and two Wakandans were stationed nearby. In their hands was a thick rubber hose which continuously dumped liquid nitrogen onto the stick to keep the metal cool.

Steve observed that the woman had rolled her eyes before following the scientists' instructions. She was halfway through summoning a beam of light before she started coughing lightly. Rogers suggested that they let her rest for a while, but T'Challa wanted the woman to tire. It had been several hours since the testing started and the Wakandan King had made sure that she was unable to get enough rest the night before. Today, they were not just going to find out what she was capable of doing, but also her limitations. Steve didn't argue with T'Challa, but he was visibly upset.

"Captain, she will get her rest after we find out how long she can endure."

At this, Su'mhea gave a small grunt, releasing the ball of light into a swirling ray of orange that hit the metal stick. The nitrogen surrounding the stick instantly vapourised and the metal began glowing red. The air around it shimmered as waves of heat forced their way to the ceiling. The metal pulsed and the edges began to darken. The woman flinched and the orange ray faded a little. Steve heard Tony mutter something under his breath. Silently, he knew the both of them wanted this girl to succeed. She gave a tired sigh before, unleashing another ray, causing the edges of the metal to curl inward. The liquid nitrogen began to gather around the metal stick, but the heat caused the chilly cloud to retreat. Slowly, parts of the stick began to flop down and after another thirty minutes, the stick was reduced to a depressing molten pool. The woman blinked, her eyes returned to normal. She sat down, exhausted and weary from all the tasks she had to do.

"Send in the small guy."

The buzzer sounded and the scientists left the room. Su'mhea began to stand up and walk towards the door, but she was suddenly thrown back. She landed on the ground, her back arched in pain. She groaned, trying to stand up again but she flew back onto the ground again. Steve grinned, Scott was doing a good job. Su'mhea rolled to the right, clutching her shoulder and gritting her teeth. A small speck flew to the right of the lady, before hopping back onto her shoulder, just before Su'mhea stood up.

"Show yourself, coward!" She spat, first in English, then in Wakandan, surprising most of the natives in the room. Tony raised an eyebrow, glancing at Steve who seemed stunned for the most part. Her eyes turned darker and immediately, the room faded to black. Scott yelled in astonishment and changed his size back to normal. The lady pushed aside the darkness and the shadows vanished into the air. Surrounding her hands were jagged rings of red light, which moved in a circular motion. Occasionally, they would brighten and dim, causing small sparks to fall on the ground around her. Her eyes, as expected, were flaring with scarlet light, rhythmically pulsing together with the rings around her wrists.

"Woah...this..this is new...guys?" Scott's ruffled voice sounded through the speakers around the room. He held a defensive stance and locked eyes with the lady. She stepped closer.

"Is this another test?"

No one answered her.

She groaned and flicked her right wrist towards Scott, who immediately shrank and dodged the ball of light. Instead of disappearing like most of the rays she had summoned, it stayed in one spot before returning to her hands. She stood still. As she was scanning the ground, she didn't notice a small dot, running to her from behind. The man jumped and hurled himself onto the lady, changing from small to normal. Shocked, she tumbled to the ground before elbowing the man's face. He flipped backwards, stunned by the attack, allowing Su'mhea to advance. She kicked his waist and pinned him to the ground with her arm. As she was about to fire another ball of light, Scott shrank down. Confused, she sent the ball of light to the ground, causing it to spread out in a rippling motion. Scott's shadow became incredibly large, giving away his position instantly. He gulped nervously.

Smiling, she sent another ball of yellow light which hovered over the little guy. As she brought it down, the light formed a barrier around him, preventing him from moving around. She clenched her fist, causing the walls of light to inch closer to the man, surrounding and boxing him in. He panicked and went back to normal size. The barrier broke but she summoned another one, although one kick from Scott was all it took to break it. The walls of light dissolved into specks of golden dust. The woman hurled three more beams at the man, trying to tire him more, but she was already fairly exhausted. The more light she summoned, the weaker her attacks got. She sent a ball towards him, a final attempt to stop him with her powers before advancing forward and attacking him. She threw some punches but Scott was able to avoid them easily since she was already quite worn down. Scott made an attempt to trip Su'mhea up, but she parried with her light shield. The momentum, however, caused her to lose balance and Scott kicked her torso, before elbowing her back. She gave a surprised cry and fell to the ground. He pinned her with his hands, but she kicked him and struggled free, flipping him off her back. She summoned another flare of light and pushed it towards Scott, who tumbled away, giving her enough time to stand up.

Before she was about to fire another beam, the familiar buzzer sounded. Her eyes went back to normal and the rings around her hands faded away. Already quite weary, she glanced overhead and locked eyes with the Wakandan King and his subjects. She narrowed her eyes, scanning the row of scientists behind him, before turning her gaze to face Tony and Steve. They seemed to have reconciled after some disagreement, she wasn't sure what kind of disagreement, but something told her they were partially responsible for this test. She looked at Scott and cocked her head to the right, confused. She turned to Steve.

"Can all humans do this?"

...

Scott came into the room, having changed into his usual wear. He had found several bruises from the earlier squabble, but other than that, he was relatively okay. He was even happier when one of the Wakandan guards had given him several oranges, as he had found some slices on a desk outside his room. Wakanda's oranges were sweeter than what he was typically used to, but he still enjoyed it nonetheless. He folded his suit and placed it in a drawer. He sat in the room, in awe at the fact that he was part of the Avengers officially. It felt like yesterday since he first became Ant-Man and he still got goosebumps whenever he saw the Avengers walk by. He smiled as he recalled the first time he met the Captain.

Holding the fruit in his hands, he tore away the peel and tossed it behind where a group of ants carried it into the bin.

"Thanks, guys!" He chirped, biting into the orange and squirmed in delight.

"You must be Scott Lang?" A regal sounding voice echoed from behind him. He turned and saw the woman he had fought with earlier. He instantly stood up and wiped the juice from his face.

"Uh...yeah," he said, in between bites, "I am...Scott...or the small guy." He swallowed. "S'cuse me, I'm...you were really cool, back there. With all that light thing...going around, that was...ha! They told me...your name was, uh, Su...Su Mar?"

She smiled, "Su'mhea."

"Yeah, that...uh listen, can I call you Su?"

She was taken aback by his lack of formality. Normally, she would have said something but she decided to let it slide. She nodded and giggled at his childishness. She folded her arms.

"Mr Lang? It seems the both of you have already met?" T'Challa called from the corridor and the man appeared at Su'mhea's side. "We are about to start the discussion."

Su'mhea raised an eyebrow. She glanced towards the Wakandan King and looked at Scott.

"It's..uh..." he began

"You are invited to join us as well since it would be regarding your future here on Earth." The man gestured to the side, stepping back to allow Su'mhea to move forward. She hesitated, unsure where all this would be heading. Holding her head at a level, she cleared her throat and began to stride forward.

"Of course." She nodded to both the men and followed H'fi, who began to excitedly chat with her in Wakandan. The two men followed behind, T'Challa keeping an eye on the lady. Scott couldn't help but feel awkward standing next to the king, so he decided not to say much.

When they arrived at the room, most of the team was already there. Tony and Rhodes were also present, along with Vision who had been granted special access to visit. Most of the team made their introductions before they started to question the woman about her intentions, origin and how she came to earth. She tried to answer them as much as possible, but Scott noticed she was a little overwhelmed, so he decided not to pressure her further. Scott was glad that many of them took it easy on the girl, she had just come from a weary fight. Even though he knew it was kind of bad to wish ill upon others, he had hoped she had earned several injuries from their brawl, just so it would seem like he wasn't a weakling.

"Scott, any questions?" Tony asked the man. "Were you even paying attention?"

"Yeah, I was...Tony..." He coughed and noticed Wanda rolling her eyes at Stark. "Uh...I don't really have much to ask, I mean you guys pretty much...asked what I wanted to ask her so..no asking from me...yet?"

Wanda piped up. "Your people all can manipulate light?"

"Yes, although most do it in varying degrees. There are different levels of skills that we have, but we have yet to use those in combat for the past century or so."

"You have been living in peace, then?" T'Challa spoke.

"Our people, we call ourselves Lu'eons, usually dislike to pick a fight with others. We function as an inter-galactical trading hub, so it would be wise to keep those whom we are in contact with as allies, if not, close friends."

"Trading hub?" Steve prompted.

Su'mhea looked at the room full of humans. "Don't you guys have dealings with other planets?"

"Woah...woah, so what you are saying is...aliens exist? And you've met them?" Scott chimed.

"Firstly, I wouldn't call them that, it's a little...offensive. They mostly prefer the term "visitors". Secondly, I've been in contact with multiple kinds of galactical beings, as it is a part of my duties to introduce them to our planet and commerce with them."

"Is that why you are so quick at picking up languages?" Rhodes asked.

"That, coupled with the fact that I apparently inherited photographic memory from my mother."

"That's...awesome?" Scott said. "So like you can remember everything and stuff?"

Su'mhea nodded.

"That must be useful," T'Challa commented.

"It is...but it has its disadvantages as well. Certain times it can be extremely overwhelming and it exhausts my mind very much. My mother wasn't very healthy as a result, so I'm afraid the same might happen to me."

"Your mind seems to be functioning well," Wanda mentioned.

"Thank you, Wanda."

She smiled. Steve held his hands up, causing Stark to smirk a little. He gestured for the lady to take her leave. After she had left, he waited for a few moments before speaking.

"So what now? Now that we've heard her out, should we grant her more freedom?"

Sam spoke up. "It seems as though she could help us if we need it. And we definitely need her to trust us first."

"But do we trust her?" T'Challa asked, "If she was not telling the truth, then we all need to be wary."

"And what if she decides to turn on us...she could be preparing her planet for war," Tony said. "One blow and they could strike us out, take over Earth and they gain another trading port for their business."

"I doubt she has that intention."

"There's always a cautious approach we should take."

"She didn't seem like she was lying."

"She wasn't," Wanda vouched, "I peered into her mind, she was telling the truth."

"The mind can be manipulated." Vision said. "It would not be entirely accurate to assume someone is speaking the truth just by examining their brain activity."

"So you are saying she can control minds along with controlling light?"

"I'm suggesting a possibility."

The room was silent for a while. Rhodes spoke up. "I think we give her a little more leeway, just to wait and see what she does. She's been here for some time, she could escape if she wanted to but she didn't. If given the opportunity to attack, she should have taken it. In the meanwhile, keep a 24/7 eye on her, just to be safe."

"That shows we don't trust her." Steve rebutted.

"She doesn't have to know," Tony stated. "If we are careful, we can all act like we are just keeping her company. It's like spying, but on a smaller scale."

"But if she finds out?"

"Then what? She will unleash an all-out war? I don't think she's that petty."

"She's in charge of an intergalactic trading hub, Stark! Who knows how many beings she has contact with. If we get on her good side, we might be able to establish contact with some of those creatures, further our science and technology. Our actions are possibly going to affect how they see us. If she thinks humans are dishonest creatures..."

"What else do you suggest? Let her out and possibly be a danger to global security?"

"She may not be a threat!"

"Gentlemen!" T'Challa's voice boomed over their heated discussion. The room fell silent, all eyes eyed the Wankandan King. "Let me remind you, Stark, that this woman has been placed under my care, I have the right to decide what happens to her. And Captain, the safety of our people comes before making a new ally."

"So what do you suggest we do, Your Highness?"

T'Challa grinned, "You will have to find out, Captain."

 **A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks for being patient and waiting for me to finish this chapter. Sorry for not writing often. As you can tell, I extended the previous chapter and gave you all this super long one! Hope you enjoy!**

 **P.S Special shout-out to my followers, Tank1234 and** **Vanimelde Melindel...3 thanks so much guys! Hope you like this story :3 also lemme know who you'd like to see train against Su'mhea (*hint...hint...I may include it in the story...)**


	7. Then Why Did You Run?

A few weeks after she had been granted more freedom, Su'mhea suddenly found herself alone with the man they called T'Challa. She glanced uneasily at the Wakandan King from the table she was sitting, fingering the necklace in her hands. He was strangely quiet, even for a King and she could tell that his eyes never missed the slightest detail. She wasn't too intimidated by him, but she was cautious. After all, he was royalty. Not to mentioned she was sure T'Challa was a fierce warrior too. He reminded her of Father, calm but strong and a force to be reckoned with. She smiled as she recalled how, as a child, she would be very open and jovial with him, but became extremely shy and clammed up in front of others. Father would always be there to protect her and care for her as a child. Even as she grew older, he was still there as an advisor and a guide. He was there when she was announced as an official Ashir-or royal guard, as the Avengers would say-in her youth and was constantly there when she needed someone to lean on.

"You seem to be in a pleasant mood, Su'mhea."

She was brought back to reality. T'Challa now stood beside her, peering at the strange object she was holding. She held it up for him to see, turning the necklace around before resting it in her fingers.

"I was thinking about my family." She paused, then added, "You happen to remind me of them."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, Father mostly. He had a similar disposition and he didn't speak much. But he was incredibly intelligent and it was quite hard to outwit him. In fact, I think he was one of the smartest men on our planet."

"Was?"

Su'mhea paused, biting her lips and clutching the necklace tightly. She felt a small lump in her throat and suddenly become nervous, her stomach tightening. T'Challa noticed this and quickly apologised.

"No, it's fine. I think it's about time I stopped living in denial." She smiled softly, breathing deeply and stroked her fingers one by one, a tactic T'Challa had observed her use before, when first speaking to the Captain. "He died, a few months ago, due to a tragedy. That left the family pretty much broken and I chose to live separately from them."

"So you came to Earth?"

"So I ran. I became angry and took off, didn't really care where I just wanted to get away from everything." She chuckled, "I think you would know how that felt like. Basically, my ship crashed here and the rest of the story is very self-explanatory."

T'Challa paused, growing very still. His mind gravitated towards the day he lost his father, how he was grieving at first. Then, that sorrow had turned to a blind rage. Although he didn't show it much, he was sure that inside, he was full of fury, almost killing the Captain's friend as a result. At the end of the day, it was a villain who made him see what he was doing, perhaps, because he was unknowingly behaving like one himself. He had never imagined Su'mhea would have undergone the same process, she was extremely calm and behaved rationally almost always. Her mannerisms never betrayed the fact that she had lost a loved one. He started to respect this lady a little more.

"You handled your grief well."

"If you consider running away from your planet a good way to handle grief."

The two laughed, before T'Challa remarked, "Then it seems you and I have something in common after all."

"That's a nice way to put it."

"And your mother?"

"My mother?" She laughed, T'Challa wasn't sure why. Perhaps it out of spite? "She has, how do you humans say it, she lost her mind after...an incident. But that was a long time ago and neither of us, my family, speak often about her. Tragically, my siblings and I hardly talk to her, because of our own reasons. I was never really close to her anyway, she and I...had our own differences. We never saw eye to eye, although at times she did attempt to fix our relationship. But we would end up quarrelling a few days later. Father also hardly speaks about her, it wouldn't help his...job. Or his sanity. He loved her dearly, but he thought it was better for us if they separated. They were still married, he would visit her whenever he had the time, but it was often unpleasant visits. He would go with a smile on his face and return with a scar on his arm. He never let me visit until I was much older, concerned for my safety and well-being. But by then, I realised that I was not going to care about this woman because she had never been a mother to me.

"So you see, my family's history is pretty tragic."

"I don't judge."

"No, I don't think you will. But you observe."

T'Challa blinked, he didn't expect Su'mhea to say that. Yet again this lady had surprised him. He continued, "You think it is bad?"

She bit her lip. "Too much is bad. You'll hear things you don't wish to hear and see things you don't wish to see. But, it's a nice skill to have. Father always wanted me to be observant. At least, I would easily figure out who I could trust."

"You seem to speak from experience."

"Perhaps," she ventured, "but that is a story for another time." She grew quiet, considering in her mind if what she just shared was appropriate enough. She wasn't concerned if T'Challa would say anything about this to anyone, he seemed like a man who could keep a secret. He wasn't King for nothing. Still, she hadn't expected herself to open up to one of the quietest people in the group. She knew it was only a foil to make himself appear more trustworthy, as it was what Father did and what she had been taught to do. Nonetheless, she convinced herself that T'Challa was a man who wouldn't go and share everything he heard with any other person.

"And how many people do you trust now."

Su'mhea paused. "That's a brave question to ask."

"You were brave in answering my questions just now."

Su'mhea considered the question carefully, not wishing to offend him or create a misunderstanding. She crafted her answer in her head, carefully choosing her words and how to bring it across and mentally scanned her answer three times before speaking.

"I trust you all as my allies. But there is only one person I trust completely. And it's a pity he's not here now."

"I understand," T'Challa nodded. "By chance, is that person your Father?"

"No," she answered, "that person is very much alive, at least to my knowledge. But, I did trust Father completely. So if he were alive, I'd say I trust two people."

"That is a surprisingly small number."

Su'mhea did not reply at first. T'Challa wondered if he had said something wrong, but her quick reply quelled his worries.

"Yes, I suppose." She paused for a little while, placing the necklace that was in her hands around her neck. Her eyes suddenly darted around the room and she scanned the premises for anyone else.

"You know how you said we have at least one thing in common?" Her voice quickly dropping low and speaking in an almost inaudible tone.

T'Challa nodded, unsure where Su'mhea was going with this. He raised his eyebrows.

"Well, there's another thing we both have."

"And that is?"

"My father is the King of our people."

The man pressed his lips together, suddenly realising the implications of this new information. That would explain a lot. He looked at her, glancing around the room to ensure no one heard them.

"That would make sense. You must be royalty then?"

"Sort of? Our system of monarchy is quite different from yours. But don't let that..." She paused, curling her fingers inwards, "I think you'd understand how others are quick to treat you differently because of your royal heritage. I don't want that here. I prefer to establish a deeper relationship with the rest of the Avengers before breaking this news to them. So it would be best if you kept this to yourself. I wish to tell the rest personally at a later date, I don't want them to find out yet."

T'Challa nodded. "What about your kingdom? Don't you need to tend to your people?"

Su'mhea shook her head.

"My brothers are in charge of that. I only serve as a warrior in the imperial grounds, an Ashir as I am called by my people."

"You must be one of the best fighters then?"

"More or less. Granted, the fact that I was related to people in higher authorities was a key factor in my enrolment, so I wouldn't say that my skills are very superior. Let's just say I can hold my own if I need to. And what about you? You are likewise a warrior, in some way."

T'Challa chuckled, nodding his head. "In some ways, yes. But my duties as King of my people come first. Still, in Wakanda, there are few who are skilled enough to defeat me."

"Yet another trait we have in common."

"What are you two weirdos talking about?" Tony interrupted the conversation. Su'mhea was startled slightly and flinched in shock. T'Challa, as expected, bore no reaction. He only frowned at Tony's presence, he clearly was not very fond of this man and Su'mhea could see why. He wasn't very respectful, she realised, and he seemed to be quite arrogant. Su'mhea spoke first.

"You may have your own reservations about this, Stark, but I wouldn't typically use that term to describe a King."

"Or a Queen?" T'Challa softly mumbled, muttering in Wankandan about how his guards would have been quick to take Tony down had they heard Stark address him that way. Su'mhea glared at T'Challa, afraid Stark might hear him. Fortunately, Tony made no reaction to either of those statements, implying that he hadn't heard T'Challa, or simply didn't care. She hoped it would be the latter.

Wanda popped her head into the room. "Were you talking about me?"

Su'mhea frowned. "No, why would-"

Tony chuckled. He poured a glass of juice and sipped it. "Definitely, we were talking about you and your weird powers."

Wanda gave a huff and slid her hands towards Stark, flicking her wrists as she flung a pillow in his face, causing orange juice to trickle down his shirt. Tony cursed and wiped the fluid off. She grinned and made a quick exit, muttering a defensive statement against Stark. Su'mhea stared at Stark, her hands folded in confusion. T'Challa didn't seem to understand him either. Stark coughed and shoved the pillow away from his face, brushing his hair in embarrassment.

"So you find her powers are weird?"

Stark laughed. "No, no, no...it's an inside joke...that we have."

The both of them glanced at each other. T'Challa commented that both sides of the team seemed to be reconciling. He earned a shrug from the man who walked past him.

"Well, we are kinda' roommates, so it makes sense that everyone is trying to buddy each other. And I suppose Wakanda is a nice place to hit it...with all the pretty flowers and the thick mist that comes in every day." The man sighed. "Do the clouds ever go away?"

T'Challa smiled, shaking his head. Su'mhea glanced outside the window.

"I think it gives the place a nice touch. Makes the land seem serene." She remarked.

"Whatever you say...Your Highness." He tipped his head toward the woman, smirking a little. Su'mhea widened her eyes and Tony gave her a wink before exiting the room. T'Challa stood beside her. He sighed in annoyance.

"If you are worried that people treat you differently, then it might be of comfort for you to know that this one hasn't been treating me any different."

 **A/N: For those who don't get it, Maria said that Quicksilver was fast and Scarlet was weird, thought I'd reference that here.**


	8. We're Supposed to be Cool?

He breathed slowly, calming his heartbeat. Deliberately, he counted each pulse and waited for the right moment. Ever since he had been busted out of jail, he had yet to practice shooting with actual guns. Guns that didn't auto-lock onto targets or home in onto moving objects or automatically blast away specified enemies. Now, clutching the pistol in his hand, the familiar item suddenly felt unaccustomed to. He knew he would have to manually direct the bullet, fire in between his beats and make sure to keep his arm locked.

Wriggling his finger around the trigger, he timed his pulse.

One...two...three...four...five and fire! With a loud shot, the bullet barreled out of the gun, speeding into the cutout in front of him. The silver orb burst against the cutout, leaving a hole in the cutout. Within another few minutes, he fired another two bullets, each trailed out in a shaky line, as a consequence of his rusty skills. He wanted to fire another when he heard the door behind him open. He turned around and saw the new girl that they had met. He smiled and removed his goggles and ear muffs, carefully locking his gun and placing it on the table beside him.

"Hey, Su!"

She gave a faded smile before coming over to examine the pistol. She seemed a little less like herself today. Her usually bright eyes were now cloudy and she possessed a dazed look, like a pigeon unaware of a nearby poacher. It sure did not resemble the lady who, just yesterday grilled Steve when he had teased her about crash landing on Earth. But he was not sure. Regardless, the man gave a warning to her not to fiddle with the lock or touch the trigger, afraid that she might accidentally release it. He went over to examine how well he fared. It wasn't too shabby, but judging by the miserable position of the shots, none of them proved to be fatal shots. His arms were slightly stiff from firing those fifteen shots but it was worth it. The last two shots actually were better than the first three, although he was sure these were not his best. Promptly, he collected the scattered shells on the floor and headed straight for the table, carelessly tossing the crumpled metal balls into the nearby bin.

"Heard some loud noises outside, so I decided to come in." She remarked, "You're Sam, right? The guy with the wings?"

"Yep. And this is a gun." He gestured to the black pistol on the table, which he picked up and placed back in the cabinet on the wall.

"You were practising?"

"Yeah, I haven't been doing very well, though. I'm a little rusty. The little metal things, they're called bullets and those things I threw away are shells. The round thing is the trigger, it's basically what makes the gun fire"

"Fire?"

"Uh...basically, when you pull it, the bullet inside comes out very fast and hits the target. We use it to shoot people. That's the term we use when we refer to someone using a gun. It'd be handy if you learnt how to use one."

"Thanks, but I have my powers. I think that would be enough."

"Huh," he chuckled, "Must be pretty cool to have lasers come out of your hands."

Su'mhea smiled, shaking her head, "Actually they don't come out of my hands, I simply use what light there is around me to either make a highly concentrated beam or an area with less light to air ratio. On occasion, I am able to store some light, but that takes up quite a bit of energy."

"Still pretty cool, though. And that memory of yours is crazy!"

She grinned. The pair exited the room and walked along the corridor. Sam continued to talk more about guns and other battle related terminology, while Su'mhea listened contentedly. Occasionally, she would talk about how she had encountered similar technology before, although she could only so much as squeeze out several sentences before being interrupted. Halfway through, Su'mhea pressed a finger to her forehead, rubbing it continuously. She grunted and closed her eyes momentarily. Sam noticed her complexion had become severely light. Her hands had a grey hue to them.

"Hey, you alright?"

Su'mhea nodded, gritting her teeth. She faltered in her step and Sam began to usher her to a nearby seat which caused nearby Wakandans to gather. He motioned for them to get some water for the lady. Two of them obliged and another began calling a doctor. Su'mhea breathed heavily, forcing air through her mouth. Sweat began to trickle from her forehead as she gasped in pain. Her arms began to tremble and her face was becoming more wearied and white. Unsure what to do, Sam began fanning her to cool her down. He pressed the back of his hand to her temples, but they seemed fine. She didn't seem to be running a fever.

"What happened?" Rogers' voice sounded behind them. He was accompanied by a Wakandan doctor and T'Challa. Both men wore expressions of concern on their faces. The perspiration on their faces bore evidence that they had rushed here upon hearing the news.

"I don't know. She was all fine, then suddenly, it's like she had this massive fit or something."

"Give her space to breathe. Miss, can you walk?" The doctor asked.

Su'mhea shook her head, too exhausted to reply. She seemed as though there was something she wanted to say but couldn't, because of her condition. Her back arched forward, cringing as she tried her best to tolerate the pain.

"Get her to the sick bay."

"Wait..." she gasped weakly, "My...ship..." she gestured with her arms, holding her finger and thumb out and pressing her index finger to her shoulder. "Inside box..."

"She wants us to bring a gun?" Sam whispered.

"No, it's a syringe," Steve answered, frantically turning to face T'Challa. "Where's her ship?"

"Sam, escort her to the ward. Rogers, with me. How fast can you go?"

Sam didn't hear Steve's reply before the two men zoomed away.

...

It turned out that both Steve and Sam had been wrong about what the Lu'eon had requested them to fetch from her ship. It was not a syringe and definitely not a gun, but a drip. Inside was a pale blue viscous liquid that bubbled once every three minutes. The tube was placed near her neck where a thin red vein was located. It drank the water in haste as within a few minutes, the liquid was half gone. The blue water seemed to have coloured Su'mhea's face again as she now was not as pale as before. Her eyes were murky but it was not due to whatever had happened.

Su'mhea sat unnaturally rigid on the bed, her eyes held an ethereal scarlet glow around their irises. Unlike the glow that occurred whenever she used her magic, it didn't pulse. Opposite her, sat Wanda, her gaze fixated on some unseen and recent memory. Both her hands were traced with a ruby luminescence, in each of her palms floated a sphere. Maximoff flicked her wrists in a variety of directions, organising memories and re-organising memories, trying to neaten the frantic mind of Su'mhea, altering different focus points to allow all the memories to stay unchanged and ensure Su'mhea wouldn't focus on every detail at once. She had a messy mind. Navigating each of her memories proved tiring for the young girl, but she tried her best. Gracefully, Su'mhea would create in her mind a pathway to a more peaceful memory where Wanda would rest for a while before continuing. It was usually a 15-second loop of some natural scenery on her planet. The short loop ensured that there were as little changes and details to remember as possible, letting Wanda get recharged before continuing.

Unlike most others, Su'mhea's mind was less abstract and more logical. Hers was a mind not moulded by emotion, but fact, so it was simpler and clearer. Although the insurmountable amount of memories was crushingly painful to deal with, Su'mhea had a disciplined mind, more than Stark, at least, and it allowed Wanda to waste less energy on holding the memory still and more on altering those focus points. With the last of the memories stored away, she slipped out of her mind and into her own body.

"That sure took a while," Sam commented, his voice stiffened with discomfort, "You were out for two hours."

Stark, from the other corner of the room, began checking the gadget that was attached to Su'mhea, fiddling with the mechanical parts before Su'mhea glared at him and asked him to stop. Sheepishly, he asked if she was okay, to which she replied that she was fine.

"You gave a number of us quite a scare." Steve mused.

"Thank you for your concern, Captain but there is no point in worrying. All the doctors say it isn't fatal. And I've had worse. Those headaches are fairly mild compared to what I have experienced in the past. Like I said, it's one of the disadvantages of remembering everything."

"Is this the reason you were not elected?" T'Challa inquired.

"Wait," Sam probed, "Elected for what?"

"Succeeding my father in the trading business." Su'mhea reacted before T'Challa had any time to respond. She gave him a quick frown. "But you are correct."

Wanda shuffled in her seat, rubbing her back from the long session. She uncurled her herself from the chair and stood beside Sam, nudging him. He was clearly unnerved. Stark also had a slight discomfort in seeing the man who had indirectly been responsible for his friend's downfall. Wanda glanced around, waiting for someone to point out how awkward Sam was getting, but no one did. She nudged Sam.

"Someone tell you you're a little paranoid lately?"

Both men sighed.

"It was just an accident, Wanda," Stark mentioned

"Yeah, but you seem to be still brooding over it."

"That's because you still are!"

Steve glanced at T'Challa, who had already started leaving the room. The man proceeded outside to discuss several issues with the doctor. Steve muttered a few curses, before stepping in.

"Whatever happened, let's just get over it."

"I'm trying, but your pal is not making it easy for me. Every time I'm around, he becomes "paranoid" and awkward. Tell me how am I supposed to solve this if he doesn't want to?" Tony remarked, gesturing to the Falcon. Su'mhea narrowed her eyes, glancing at Wanda for an explanation. Wanda looked at her and sent her a telepathic message on what happened, cautiously hiding her hand under Su'mhea's blanket. She raised her eyebrows slightly, but it was subtle enough that the three men didn't take notice.

Sam sighed in exasperation. Why did he have to deal with this now, in front of an alien and in front of a girl who could read minds?

"I had a wingman. He got into an accident when we were flying, just like Rhodes. Except he didn't make it. I thought I would never be that cruel to someone, to cause them to go through what I went through, but seems I was no better."

"You didn't fire that beam."

"I dodged it." Sam quipped. "I made a selfish move that cost Rhodes his legs, his career. And it cost you your friend."

"He isn't dead," Tony defended, "it's not a big deal. And he can still walk, given time and a little bit more tech. So stop feeling guilty. It's going to make things harder for the team to reconcile."

He gave the Falcon a pat on the back and a half-hearted smile before he made a quick exit. T'Challa, sensing the commotion was over, entered with the doctor trailing behind. In his arms was a thin tablet with Su'mhea's vital stats and several scans of her brain. Both were healthy. Su'mhea thanked the medic in his native language and the man walked away.

"Thanks, Sam. If it weren't for you, I think I would be worse off," Su'mhea remarked. "Your kind truly are a very hospitable and generous race. My people could learn more from your species."

"Our kindness is only human." T'Challa quipped, causing the room to be filled with laughter. Wanda smiled, then gasped, remembering something important.

"Su'mhea, sorry, I...I completely forgot...I left a mark on the last memory you let me see...it's the..one with the man, tall, grey hair...I need to enter your mind again."

The lady smiled and reassured Wanda that it was fine. She calmed down, closed her eyes and let the "witch"-as she had been called by Stark-work her magic. With a few flicks of her wrist, Wanda was once again inside the Lu'eon's mind. Only this time, it was slightly shakier. Wanda mentally sent Su'mhea a message to hold the memory there, but it seemed to be of no use. Wanda realised she entered her mind too quickly and was about to slip out when the walls around her rippled and she was transported to another memory, this time one that she had not yet seen. Curious, she looked around.

Meanwhile, Steve and the two men were waiting quietly for Wanda to finish her work. Of course, it was Sam who broke the silence first.

"I heard Wakanda's coffee is one of the best."

Steve chuckled in amusement. His friend was always this brazen.

"I could request several Wakandans to tour you around. I'm afraid my people would find it absurd if their king brings you on a trip. But I do know of a place where you could visit."

"Any chance you-"

Wanda's small scream sounded through the room. Her hands were shaking terribly and her usually steady ruby glow was murky and fragile. Her face was paler and her eyes had widened, almost as if in disbelief. Beside her, Su'mhea's expression was grim. She was not as pale as Wanda, but her expression was also one of shock and pain. Wanda's breath grew edgy and sharp, lined with panic. The scarlet sphere in her hands was expanding, furniture around them started to move towards them or vibrate intensely.

"Wanda!"

Suddenly, everything went back to normal. The room no longer glowed red and Wanda sat still on Su'mhea's bed panting heavily, looking at Su'mhea in horror. The latter looked away and cleared her throat. Her eyes darted around, almost as if she was a kid who had been caught red-handed. She took a deep but short breath, apologising to Wanda for the scare.

"What happened?" Sam inquired.

"Oh, nothing that serious, I just...the memory slipped, it transitioned to a nightmare I had once. Sorry, Wanda, I should have controlled my mind more."

"No, it's my..my fault. I...I could...I should have known not to..."

Su'mhea placed an arm on Wanda's hands, stroking her fingers gently. It seemed to calm her down.

"Breathe. You're going to be alright. I won't hurt you."

Wanda looked into Su'mhea's eyes, her eyes glowing red again as she received a telepathic message from Su'mhea. The lady smiled, then firmly squeezed her shoulders twice. Wanda inhaled sharply, then hurriedly muttered, "I need to go. I'm sorry."

She took off, ignoring Steve who called after her.

"I hope she's alright." Su'mhea worriedly gave Sam a glance. Steve mentioned he would go check on her and left the room. Su'mhea stifled a yawn, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Sorry, it's the medicine, it makes me tired. I should get some rest."

Sam and T'Challa nodded and left the room, closing the door behind them. Although Sam was certain this encounter was not what Wanda had said. After all, Su'mhea wouldn't be guilty if she had dreamt up a nightmare. And the way she had acted didn't seem right. The way the Wakandan king was deep in thought, eyebrows raised in confusion, confirmed his suspicions. He decided to ask him.

"Tell me you feel it, too."

The man turned to face him. He nodded, straightening his suit.

"Yes, something is not quite right. And I have reason to believe she is not telling us the truth. She seems to be keeping many secrets."

"What about Wanda, surely she would tell us."

"I doubt so. It appears Su'mhea has convinced her to keep quiet about this. Your friend most likely cannot get anything out of both of them. And interrogating Su'mhea does not seem to be a good idea, given her current condition. But, Wanda is sensible and she would know whether to share that information. In the meantime, we can keep an eye on the both of them."

Sam agreed, hoping that whatever Wanda had seen wasn't going to cause too much trouble.

 **A/N: So school is starting and I'm hoping to post another chapter by this weekend, but no promises. Hopefully, I can still find time to write. Also, hello to LadySaphire and 6footsniper! Hi! Thank you for choosing this story, enjoy your stay here! :3**


	9. Intermission

File: Retrieved from database 78091A; Code Red

/Passenger quantity: 1

Status:Unknown, 73.6% chance of survival

/Barricade check;

Barricade 1: Damaged

Barricade 2: Damaged

Barricade 3: Damaged

Barricade 4: Functioning, no sign of breakage

/Scanning security footage

Error not found

/Scanning cockpit for signs of life

Error not found

Motion trigger activated

/Downloading live feed of external cameras

Camera malfunction; Deploying micro-scanners

Searching...

Life form detected

Species unknown

Scanning for potential threat

Scan complete

Report; Species X5783D

Strength: 45%

Speed: 43.9%

Technology: 57%

...

Potential threat: Affirmitive

/Threat report

Tenacity: ...

Tenacity: High

/Scanning for location

Location: Found

/Scanning for quickest route

Route found

Approximately 5 days journey; including thirteen space jumps

/Begin journey

Caution; chance of survival 15.9%; Rescue success is unlikely

/Override

Beginning Space jump Alpha

...

"This is Commander 4, send a report to the Tsu'ta. Gather his men and inform him to prepare the welcome party. She has been found."


	10. No, You Move

It had been weeks since the incident and although both T'Challa and Sam had been keeping an eye on the duo, they were unable to predict what had happened. T'Challa's best guess was that it was something to do with Su'mhea's royalty and her mother, but even he was unsure. He had always suspected Su'mhea hadn't exactly told him everything when she informed him of her royal heritage, evident by the way she kept pausing at certain sections and looking away. He deduced that Wanda had witnessed something which had happened between her and her mother, or a general incident, which caused her mother to lose her mind. It could be something that Su'mhea was to blame for; it would definitely account for the way she seemed guilty afterwards. He decided to keep this to himself, as he was certain it wouldn't be too harmful and he did not wish to cause any misunderstandings. Besides, Wilson had little idea that Su'mhea was a King's daughter and although Steve, Tony, himself, possibly even Wanda, and recently Vision, had already found out about her heritage, he was certain Su'mhea would not be happy with him if he mentioned it to Sam. All T'Challa could do now was to watch and wait and observe.

Not that the Lu'eon had given him much chance to do so. She had been cautiously avoiding him ever since. Wanda also had been relatively quiet. Although on occasion, he would spot the two ladies together. Each time they saw him watching them, they would either lower their voices or stop talking completely. Wilson didn't seem to be having any luck either; worse still, he had no idea how to be subtle. T'Challa felt greatly embarrassed for the man but decided to listen in on his conversations with the two women, just in case they dropped any hints as to what exactly had happened.

T'Challa was excellent at reading people, a slight change in intonation patterns could speak volumes and one tiny movement could present a great difference. Su'mhea knew this and T'Challa suspected she had also been trained in reading people and keeping her cool. Living in the palace could prove stressful, especially if one had no idea how to control one's body language or manipulate others with their words. But, if anything, Su'mhea seemed a little rusty. She was a warrior. And warriors could afford to be straightforward anyway. Still, it was immensely difficult to figure her out and T'Challa suspected she would occasionally raise her pitch or flinch to throw him off.

Wanda also was difficult, not because she had been trained, but because she knew what he wanted to say and could react accordingly. She was already quite quiet by nature and she was fairly young, not used to much formality. This he used to his advantage, making her uncomfortable so she would slip up more. He glanced at the girls, sitting in the far corners of the room, both of them not speaking. He was about to approach one of them to try and gather more information when he heard footsteps coming from the corridor.

He turned and behind him stood several of his guards, informing him of someone attempting to contact him and that the situation was labelled as an emergency. Thanking his guards, he made his way to his office.

...

"You need Su'mhea?"

The blonde lady nodded, biting her lip. It was a lot to ask from the Wakandan king, especially since she was the one who approved the transfer of Subject 781A to Wakanda. To be fair, it was because of a request from Tony, although she had no idea why, but she was happy that the girl wouldn't be locked up in a tiny enclosure anymore. And, she was glad that the lady hadn't caused any trouble in Wakanda, or any trouble she had heard of; it supported her decision. Furthermore, Wakanda had just very recently lost its King. With T'Challa single and no successor in sight, it would spell trouble for the nation if Subject 781A was to launch an attack on the King.

It had been agreed that the King would do his best to find out more about her species in exchange for allowing them to host the prisoner. Although he and his scientists had dutifully sent weekly reports, Sharon herself was looking forward to meeting the lady. From the records she had read in her spare time, she was impressed by this woman. Secretly, she was hoping to see her powers in action. The videos she had seen of the subject using her powers were inadequate, in her opinion, in showing her true prowess. And, she seemed as though she could fare well in hand-to-hand combat, an activity the CIA agent wanted to participate with her.

But her requests were not for selfish reasons. NASA had contacted the CIA recently, having detected an unknown object heading straight for Earth. It bore some resemblance to the ship Subject 781A had come in, the size was significantly bigger though and NASA was clearly worried that it contained firearms or cadets ready for battle. Moreover, the ship had made communication attempts with Earth, although it was impossible to decode the messages. That was really why she needed Su'mhea's help.

She explained this to the King, who all the while had a thoughtful gaze on his eyes. Sharon wasn't sure, he was incredibly hard to read. Either way, she wasn't expecting him to say no. After all, the US had expanded its diplomatic relations with his country and she had the privilege of hosting several acclaimed Wakandan scientists in the USA.

"Where do you intend to host her?"

"Not that dreaded cell again, that's for sure," Sharon affirmed. "With these reports, the government has a clearer picture of her intentions, so it's unlikely they will treat her as a criminal. She seems innocent, that's for sure. I don't believe Congress is that cruel. Although she may have to face several rounds of interrogation, I have reason to believe she will be in good hands.

"More particularly, she will be in mine."

The King looked up, now his gazed was focused. It seemed he was now more willing to loan the lady to the USA for a temporary period. Sharon was careful not to let her face light up, it would be so unprofessional. After all, she had a mission to accomplish. No matter how many missions she had been through, she was certain that glowing, fuzzy feeling would never go away each time she succeeded in her missions.

"Then, I would entrust her to you. I do believe you will treat her well?"

"Yes, your Highness."

The King nodded and his video feed went offline. Sharon gave a small "yes" and proceeded to draft up the paperwork needed for the delivery.

...

Su'mhea exited the plane, accompanied by H'fi, who had never ceased to chat with her. Although she was tired, it was a relief that a familiar face was accompanying her. Not that it mattered, she was going to have to meet new foreigners who, judging from their positions, were less hospitable than the Avengers were and less forgiving. Furthermore, it seemed as though they had little intention of getting to know her. They were politicians and businessmen, to say the least, and Su'mhea had tasted her fair share of them. From what she had experienced, she knew they were most likely not the "nice" type.

Inwardly, she was groaning.

This was the exact reason she had left the palace to work as a guard. Yet, here she was, having to go through similar circumstances again. She sighed. Given the fact that she had not been able to focus on the past few minutes and the headache that was rampaging in her mind due to both the jetlag and her photographic memory. She intensely hoped that she wouldn't drop dead during the conference or the interrogations, it would be a sign of weakness.

Su'mhea had been so distracted by her headache that she almost crashed head-first into another man. It happened to be T'Challa, no less. The man deftly avoided her and she quickly regained her balance.

"Apologies, I...I was distracted."

She rubbed her temples, the pain had worsened. Su'mhea frowned, clenching her teeth and willing herself not to lose consciousness. Tilting her head so she would avoid eye contact with T'Challa, she strode past him, but she was certain that only made him more suspicious.

"You must be relieved to meet your family again after so long."

Of course, he thought that was a ruse to throw him off guard. It would take a good amount of effort to convince him otherwise, so she decided it would be best to play along. Hopefully, he would get the hint that she wasn't faking it. Her mind wasn't helping, though, as it decided to send a stream of suffocating spasms to torture her. She gritted her teeth, taking deep breaths to ease the pain. Though, by this time, she felt there was nothing she could do to free herself from the headaches.

"Yes," she ragged, as wave after wave of pain smashed against her temples. "I am."

Carter soon joined them and introduced them to several other people, either important deputies or essential personnel in NASA. Su'mhea was forced to remember a string of names and titles, all of which put her head in a whirl. By the time the conference began, she felt as if she was floating on air. Her giddiness made it difficult to concentrate. She grimaced as the speeches started, the first person was obviously using too many new terms and was insanely elaborate, the words flooded her mind and threatened to break her brain.

By the time it was over, she heaved a sigh of relieve. But the worst was far from over. Sharon incessantly questioned her, in front of the press nonetheless, which not only made her nervous but also irritated at the flashing lights. She desperately wanted to dim the flashlights, but she had no energy to do so. Besides, it would be terribly rude of her to do so. After answering thirty-four questions or so, she was herded into a room where there were bleeping noises and dark monitors occasionally flared to life, with graphs and all kinds of data.

Su'mhea braced herself for another round of introduction. Thankfully, the worst of her headaches had quelled, so she could focus on the task at hand. The scientists exuberantly pressed her to decode it quickly, causing her to almost roll her eyes. Agent Carter gestured for Su'mhea to follow her to the communications station and she did. She didn't have much of a choice, though.

Excitedly, Sharon tapped her fingers against the glass table, ushering Su'mhea to the keyboard.

"I've heard about you, by the way, your powers are quite extraordinary. It would be great to have another lady around. This is a rather male-dominated industry, it can get a little..."

"Rowdy?"

"Sort of. But really, NASA is hoping you could help us. It would really, really help you get a one-up with the government. I'm sure you know politicians are fairly concerned with their people's welfare, so if you aided their cause-"

"Don't mention it, Earth has welcomed me, so it is only fair I do my part."

"Shall we?" Sharon pointed to the screen, playing the recording for Su'mhea to hear.

Hesitantly, she proceeded. Across the room, T'Challa watched, hoping to confirm his suspicions.

 **A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait but this chapter is over and done with! *claps hands excitedly* I had experienced a little writers' block so it took awhile, anyways, hope you all enjoy reading it.**


	11. I have Homework

Flipping his skateboard into his arms, the youngster hurled himself up the stairs, supernaturally crossing four steps at a time, occasionally sliding up the railing. Reaching the gates, he enthusiastically pushed open the doors, calling for his aunt. There was no response, however, and he went up to his room, kicking the door close behind him. He crashed into his bed, opening his Macbook before grinning.

He stayed still and heard for any sounds that signalled whether Aunt May was at home. The still silence was enough to confirm that she had indeed left the house, meaning he was free to make a mess.

Whipping his hand out, he aimed his wrist to the ceiling and pressed the red button on his watch. Chills ran up and down his body as he saw the projected beam shoot upwards to create a stunning imagery. The sign that Stark had specially designed for him made him feel like a superhero, at least he had a theme and logo. He quickly stared at his wardrobe, ensuring his suit was placed in an inconspicuous location. Too bad his suit which was once a bright red colour had more or less faded in the six months that had transpired after the short squabble he was involved in. He still had dreams about it every now and then. Never had he felt so exhilarated, recalling almost every punch and kick he threw, and in return, every bruise and blow he was dealt.

He rarely used the suit, he was just too busy with projects and his spare job that he had taken up. Moreover, when he did, it was mostly to deal with town robberies or saving some old lady's cat or stopping some bullies. Dealing with normal people.

He missed the short time he had with the Avengers and, even though it meant he had to risk his life, longed for another chance to be part of the epic team that had inspired him to begin saving the world...or his town neighbours, at least. Sighing, he returned to doing his work, flipping on the radio, just in case there was some action nearby town.

All that he heard was some boring traffic news.

Suddenly, a knock on his door made him jump. Scrambling to hide his device, he plucked it from his wrist and stuffed it under his pillow. Aunt May appeared in the doorway, just as he returned to his previous position, shifting his weight uneasily to hide the fact that there was an unusually expensive watch on his bed. He bristled in annoyance as his Aunt invaded the space in his room. She had a wide grin on her face, unusually wide grin, in fact.

He glanced at her confused. She had, as of late, been in a typically bad mood, especially since he had gotten into another "school fight". Truth be told, he had saved a woman, or her purse, from being stolen by a bearded mob man and was about to pull a quick escape with the purse when the man suddenly threw a punch at him. Unable to dodge it as he had been distracted by another guy, he took a blow to his left eye, which was now bruised and wounded. Aunt May had been flying into a rage when she found out, threatening to call the school should this go on. Thankfully, he had managed to convince her otherwise. Else, his cover might have been blown and his dreams of being a superhero would be gone.

Of course, a cold war had ensued in the house after that, for about 5 days.

It seemed that she had broken the silence today. She could never stay mad for long. Still, Peter wondered if something had occurred that afternoon which could explain Aunt May's current pleasant spirit.

She sat on his bed beside him.

"Is your eye still hurting?"

"It's been five days, Aunt May..." he groaned, then squirmed as she pressed two fingers to his eyebrow. "Ow!"

"You were saying?"

He sighed, then brushed her hand away. Aunt May gave him a look.

"Sorry, it's just...stuff keeps happening in school. But it's not like I could control their reactions..."

"That's what you always say, Parker."

He ignored her and continued rambling, but stopped soon after he realised Aunt May was waiting for him to stop. He glanced at her, expectantly waiting for an answer.

"Someone wants to offer you a job."

Parker looked at her, then laughed.

"Yeah, ok...that really sounds great, but I'm still studying?"

He shrugged his shoulders to prove his point.

"I haven't even given you the details yet."

"I have homework," he countered, stating that work and this job could wait. Aunt May shook her head. She stood up and got ready to proceed out of the door. Placing a hand on the door handle, she turned to face him

"Alright, guess I'll have to tell Mr Stark his internship would have to wait."

She closed the door out. It took only mere milliseconds for what she had just said to register in his mind. Mr Stark...as in Mr Tony Stark...his idol. Did the Avengers need him again?

"Wait!" He called, rushing out towards the door, before he awkwardly flipped around and grabbed the watch, tossing it into the pile of clothes that lay at the foot of his bed. Haphazardly, he bolted out of the door, tumbling down the stairs as fast as he could.

...

"So she can shoot light beams?"

Tony sighed, regret veiled his face. This youngster was not going to shut up, although he had been talking for the last few hours. He had to be careful when bringing him around, the rest of the team had yet to find out this lad's real identity. His cover-up was an intern student who was attached to Tony because of his performance in his studies and passion for mechanical science. After all, they needed all the help they could get to set up a proper communication device, meant to send inter-galactical messages in less than two weeks. He had forgotten the exact term NASA had coined, but terms were not so important.

"But, what's gonna happen to her after, I mean, didn't she...?"

"We're not sure," he breathed, exhausted from the long flight. He tried his best not to show his frustration. "She claims otherwise. T'Challa said that something doesn't add up and Wanda seems to side her as well."

"But you don't agree?"

"I just don't want another fight, kid."

"Oh, right."

The plane flew in silence for the next ten minutes or so. Tony appreciated the quiet, as he needed to think through everything that had happened. First, it was T'Challa saying that Su'mhea had been under arrest. Then, he stated that an emergency meeting had to be held. Su'mhea denied, obviously, what they had said about her, Wanda sided her and the Falcon and T'Challa seemed to have followed suit. The Captain wanted to find out which side was right, Vision reasoned that they should comply with the commands given by the aliens as they could easily overpower Earth and Barton simply mentioned that he was tired of fighting another war.

But didn't Su'mhea state that it wasn't confirmed that she had committed the crime? In fact, what she had translated, according to T'Challa, was that she had was a suspect of murdering the King. Which was odd, considering that she was royalty. But that wasn't uncommon in royal families. T'Challa himself had stated it could be a possibility, even though the way she had spoken to him about her father proved otherwise. It would explain why she had suddenly left her home planet without warning. Su'mhea however, stated that she wasn't running away because of a guilty conscience, but she refused to provide the actual reason why she came to Earth.

Wanda had assured the team that she wasn't lying. But Tony remained sceptical. He did not trust the young girl, as much as Rogers had hoped he would, so it was only natural to doubt whether Wanda was really stating the facts or making them up. With someone who could read your mind as easily as one reads a book, he was always on his toes when he was around her. Besides, they didn't have a good history, to begin with.

From where he was seating, as the plane hovered close to the ground, he could make out two figures pacing beside the landing strip. Or rather, one was floating to and fro. _Vision_ , he thought and grinned to himself. At least he would be welcomed by someone who would be on the same side as him. However, his joy was quickly suppressed when he realised who his synthetic humanoid friend was with. Wanda...the witch, who had been acting weirdly lately ever since Su'mhea was placed under arrest.

As the plane landed, with a blur, the kid bounced out of the plane and rushed towards the couple before Tony could even stand up. Noticing that the kid had almost reached them, he hurriedly straightened his jacket. Sure, he loved a good entrance, but a good entrance could wait. Especially since he was sure that bumbling kid would sooner or later cause his not-so-good exit back to Queens. Scrambling down the stairs, he reached the ground just in time to hear the beginnings of their awkward conversation.

"H..hi, uh...I'm so, so, so, glad to meet you...uh...I've seen you all fight, it's amazing...you're amazing!"

Vision glanced to Wanda. "I don't believe we have met? And I hardly recall seeing you around Mr Stark-"

"He's new." Tony puffed, somewhat wearied from the short run down the plane. "My new intern, he's gonna help us for the thing NASA is trying to build."

"You've seen us?" Wanda questioned.

"Uh...I actually...yeah, on TV and stuff...it's so cool...I..." Parker glanced around nervously, all eyes fixated on him. He brushed his hair in embarrassment. "Do I shut up now?"

Tony grimaced, proceeding to explain their "cover story" and introduced his "intern" to the rest. Vision, in turn, filled Tony in by explaining all that happened and occasionally, Wanda would butt in with opinions of her own. Truth be told, Parker was not paying attention, so when Tony asked him something, it caught him by surprise. Wanda snickered at this, probably because she was not a big fan of Stark's. Not when they first started and especially not since Tony had a part to play in getting her in prison. Obviously, she was trying to hold it in but was doing quite poorly. Parker could sense the bitterness radiating off her. That or she was having her "woman's time" currently.

"I'm sorry, you...lost me...could you explain it again?"

"Which part?" Tony gave an exasperated sigh. Even he was running out of patience to dish out to this kid.

"Uh...from the start?"

 **A/N: Sorry for long wait...it's been a busy time of the year for me! I'm also having a bit of writer's block right now, so pardon me if a bit of the story seems weird...**


	12. Stay Out of This One

Su'mhea sat on the chilling silver tray that was a pathetic excuse for a bed. The metal rattled with every breath she took and the chains around her hands clanged against the walls almost every hour. Though her steel bonds woefully clanged against the shelf that her trembling body nested on, even louder were all the rampant thoughts that fogged her mind. It was because of these factors, she often found it hard to sleep. Thankfully, she thought, she had been trained to forgo slumber for weeks on end during simulated missions. Although she could feel her energy being sapped right out of her. She was clearly exhausted. The glass wall didn't help either, it made her feel vulnerable and weak, two things she had been striving to not be after the events that had happened back on her home planet. Now, not only was she both of those things, she was also labelled as a criminal.

The prison was small and tight but her chest felt tighter. Nerves seemed to wrapped around and around and around her ribs until there was only a cavity the size of a coin through which she gasped for air. Her eyes stung most of the time, her eyelashes wet and full of tears from the "dust that had settled around the cell". Inside, she was terrified. Murder in her home planet was met with severe punishment and their methods of execution were brutal. Either burned, eaten alive, or other cruel ways to die. And she was a warrior, trained to be face to face with the toughest of torture, prepped to die at the hands of many blades, ready to sacrifice her soul for the sake of the royal family, for the sake of the King...her father.

Yet, here she was, being accused of destroying the thing she had sworn to protect so many aeons ago, even before she had become an Ashir. She sighed and fiddled with the edges of the skirt, counting for perhaps the hundredth time the dots on the floor outside her cell. It was how she was taught to survive in war. Pick a routine, establish it, live for the sake of completing that routine. Simple and effective. In fact, she had been so intensely focused on counting that her ears didn't pick up the sound of footsteps approaching the cell. Not that there would have been much sound, to begin with, considering the woman had been S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agent for quite some time.

"I would have suffered a similar fate if not for someone's help."

Su'mhea flinched, looking at the feminine shadow of a woman across her cell. Behind her, two guards were sprawled out on the ground, sparks of blue electric volts surrounding their necks. Impressive. The woman placed her arms crossed and made her way towards the light. Su'mhea saw her clearly now, her ruby locks dangled freely from her shoulders down. The black outfit she wore had several small tears, her hair was relatively tangled and frizzy.

"You're a fugitive?"

"Smart." She replied, smiling and stepping closer.

"I wouldn't come close if I were you."

"Why?" The woman smiled coyly. "I won't bite."

"I might." Su'mhea let her eyes sparked with orange flames, chills that felt that fire but did not burn her skin raged through her veins. Behind, the lights flickered at a steady pace. The deep and dancing shadows were barely enough to warn any nearby guard that was close enough or at least be noticed by guards outside the facility. Of course, anyone put in this cell would have some sort of super powers! Natasha would have hissed at her to stop, but she had a mission to fulfil. Losing her cool would interfere with that. Respectfully she kept a distance and retreated backwards.

Su'mhea looked at her and summoned the light to dim, but not too much that she couldn't read the intruder's face clearly. Satisfied, her pupils dimmed and faded to their usual shade of ginger.

"Whose side are you on?"

The woman with scarlet hair gingerly sat down on a nearby stool and crossed her legs. "Would you like to guess?"

Su'mhea chewed on her lips and curled her fingers inwards and outwards. She knew she would be easily cornered if she were to play this woman's games. And she couldn't play the role of the naive maiden either, it was too late for that. Obviously, this woman already had seen what she was capable of and if she played all innocent, the woman would corner her again. Not answering her questions also was not an option, given that this woman could easily find ways to pester her otherwise. She wasn't even sure whether this woman was sent by one of the Avengers who wanted to covertly find out more about her, although the guards that were violently spasming on the floor seemed to prove otherwise. Still, they could be trained actors, but Su'mhea felt unconvinced that the Avengers would go to such lengths.

"What do you want?"

"Whatever you can give me."

"How much do you know..."

"Ah," Natasha smiled, inside she kicked herself for letting that slip. She knew nothing except this woman's name, where she was from, how long she had been here. She didn't even know why she was here. In this cell. She tried a different tactic.

"I've heard you were in here because they are afraid."

"Why are you here, then."

"Because I'm not?" Natasha smiled... _Check_

"Everyone's afraid of a criminal...you must be quite brave to come here alone."

"Your crime is not that treacherous to me."

"Really? I am accused of slaughtering a King. Is that not treacherous for you?"

 _Murder?_ Romanoff thought. _Did she kill the King? But...she...was royalty...slaughtering her own father._

Su'mhea realised she had fallen for the woman's trap and cursed herself. At least she found out that the woman had no idea what crime she was involved in...until now. She had returned back to square one and the woman had advanced. As Su'mhea pondered what to say next, the ceiling flashed red. Natasha looked at the woman with widened eyes, opening her mouth to question why she alerted the guards. She moved to the exit swiftly, but stop abruptly when she heard footsteps and proceeded to hide, squeezing in between the narrow shelves.

"That's not me..." Su'mhea hastily replied but was cut off when three or four guards came into the room. T'Challa accompanied them, wearing his suit. So did the Captain and Tony. In the distance, Wanda and Clint trailed behind. On closer inspection, Su'mhea realised they were holding a man captive and Wanda had used her telekinetic powers to control his movements.

"What is this?"

T'Challa looked at Wanda and signalled for her to loosen her grip. The man was able to look up now and could move at least the upward half of his body, although his hands were still tied behind his back.

"Malaai!"

Su'mhea froze...unsure how to feel at the current moment. There was only one person who would call her that. And she had left in such a hurry, she wasn't sure if he would be angry at her or feel upset. Could he also suspect her of being a criminal? But he was...he wouldn't! A small clatter interrupted her thoughts and the team turned to see a rather flustered Natasha scrambling to catch herself. Upon realising she had been found, she gave a sheepish, almost childish grin. The spy croaked, "H..Hey, guys...hoped no one missed me."

 **A/N: Hi everyone! My school is almost ending so it meeeaansss more posting soon! Anyways, thanks to Turtle-Tastic3000 for the wonderful review, how on earth did you predict this chapter? O.o Thanks for the inspiration and I'll probably use another of your ideas for my next chapter. ;) For the rest, reviews are welcomed, just make it PG and no swearing. Thank you!**


	13. Still Friends, Right?

Barton fumbled with the assortment of tools Tony had handed him. He sighed as another screw dropped on the floor and made a loud tinkled, causing half of the people in the room to look at him. Apologising and muttering against Tony and his cursed fix-y stuff, he picked it up and waddled to the almost empty hanger. Tony and his new intern were there, so he was glad he wouldn't have to put up with Stark's mechanical nonsense alone. Honestly, although he lived on a farm, the tractor was almost always fixed by his wife. He wasn't the sort of fixing stuff guy, engineering was too hard for him. He'd rather cook for his kids than fix things with them. It's too bad his boy took after his mama and was oddly fixated with legos and bricks, which bored him to death. His daughter, on the other hand, looked promising, with her keen attention and a great eye for detail. He remembered that she used to ask him whether she could use his bow, although Laura strongly objected, saying that her brother could get hurt or that their furniture which she had to fix would get damaged easily. She frowned whenever Lila got so close to ever touching Daddy's big bow, so he and Lila would sneak off to the shed to practice.

Of course, Laura would find out and give each of them a big scolding after. But mischief runs in the family and both Daddy and daughter were always looking for opportunities to oppose Mum as much as they could. He sighed, as he realised he was always a source of head ache and worry for Laura. Even though his wife had assured him that she knew that he could always go out and never return and she had expected it the moment she married or even dated him, he still felt guilty whenever he left her alone with the three kids. And now, little Nathaniel had already started to crawl...and he had missed his child's milestone.

"Missing home?" Tony asked.

"Missing family." He dumped the tools onto the table, one of the parts started to tumble off onto the floor. He was about to catch it when Tony's intern raced over and caught it with his left hand.

"Careful, that's the part that we need to test run the engine. It's very fragile and if it's dropped, the wiring may malfunction and cause a miscalculation."

Clint stared at the intern. "That was a fast reaction."

"Uh, yeah...yes I mean, uh no...it's nothing."

There was an awkward pause and Tony looked slightly uncomfortable, whistling a little. Clint was confused.

"Hi, uh...I know you, you're the guy with the arrows! It was so cool seeing you fight..."

Parker realised his mistake, earning a face palm from Tony and moved on to correct himself.

"Oh...on Tv...where else would I see it, right?"

He chuckled nervously and began rubbing his hands together. Barton looked weirdly at him before, passing one of the wrenches to Tony, who had gone on to open the engine. Inside, there was an orange glowing orb that flickered like a flame. The orb was surrounded by two silver rings that were interlocked and in the center of the rings was a golden oval. Beside it was glass-like shards that shimmered and reflected light, making the interior bear resemblance to a kaleidoscope. Tony was impressed, it seemed like their society revolved around light and solar energy. He recalled that Su'mhea had mentioned her planet had six stars which function as Suns and that their engineers had devised a way to control and manipulate the radiation from each star individually, providing sufficient light for the planet.

Barton had joined him in staring at the glass engine. "Looks good." He admitted.

"Yeah, but see that cracked thing over there?" He pointed to a distant box which was oozing out sparks at a rapid rate. He noticed now that there was a burning smell that was slowly diffusing throughout the whole room. The intern came over and held out two masks, Barton gratefully wore it.

"Careful, the fumes are toxic. If you feel a little doozy, just step out for a while."

Barton nodded and began to attach the water pump to a spot located near the leak, as per Stark's instruction. As he was fixing it silently, the intern came over and began introducing himself.

"Hi, uh, I'm Sp- I'm Parter, Peeker Parter...I mean Parker. Peter Parker."

Barton winced, Tony's intern was far worse than Stark himself. It was as if Tony had a hyperactive clone. Seeing his frustration, Tony decided to help him out. In truth, it was partly because he couldn't stand Peter' yabbering also.

"Turns out you're not the only one with a secret family huh?"

Barton nodded, "Too bad they can't be together. Must be hard for him, marrying a murderer and all. Pass me a cloth."

Tony threw him a white towel and continued, "Well, they seem kinda sweet together."

"Ha!" Barton threw him an irritated glance, "You didn't say that about Laura and me...and we have three kids!"

"They may have had more." Tony rebutted, coming over to work on the engine. He pulled out a massive cable and begun to inspect it, checking for leaks or overheated parts. He turned the cable over.

The whole team was pretty shocked to find out Su'mhea was married already. She seemed fairly young to be wed already, yet T'Cha said he had seen royalty who had married the moment they turned fourteen, especially for females. Su'mhea didn't say anything as she was rather emotional about seeing her significant other again and was already busy telling him about what had happened. T'Cha decided that it was best for them to be separated, although some members of the team objected to it, including Scott, Wanda, himself and Vis. Steve took it upon himself to play host for this guest and Wilson was quick to oblige, hoping to find out more about Su'mhea. He recalled the afternoon they discussed this, Steve almost raised his voice at Tony again and the intense silence was only broken when Vision reminded both of them that this was Wakandan territory. Anything this alien did or would do had to be accounted for by T'Cha. If both of them escaped and caused a mass massacre, the Wakandans could be unhappy and cast the Avengers out.

Tony was blatantly upset about how the situation ended and after that afternoon, he confronted Rogers on why he wouldn't trust Su'mhea as she claimed, and Wanda said she hasn't found anything suspicious in her mind, that she wasn't the murderer. He remembered Steve telling him, "It's easy to be a traitor and act like you have high values and moral. Su could be pretty much putting on an act right now."

He sighed, it seemed as though this visitor was going to cause more pain and hurt.

"What if she didn't do it." Tony asked.

"What, you mean you think she'd be innocent? Uncharacteristic of you."

"No, I mean she has currently no motive to take over the throne now."

"She wants power?"

"Not her type." Tony proceeded to pry open the cover of the box and wrung his hands, scalding himself on the lid. The sparks roared and Barton splashed a few droplets to cool the box. "Unless she is a convincing actor. But even then, I suspect T'Challa would have seen through her guises. And Wanda wouldn't be quick to defend her. And she has said that palace politics is not her thing. So to become associated with royalty is out of the question."

"But she could still want to be powerful or at least control her kingdom." He twisted the pipe and the engine started to hiss. Tony pushed and yanked a few parts, then did something and the engine quietened down. "Or she could dislike her father?"

"And? Why would she?"

"Some family quarrel or something?"

"T'Cha said she doesn't like her mum, not her pop."

"Yeah, maybe she just doesn't like both and is not telling us?"

"Wanda said-"

"She hasn't found anything, doesn't mean that in the future, she could discover something Su could be hiding all along."

"But to hide a memory is practically impossible!"

"She's an alien! What if she has powers we don't even know-"

"How? Her brain is wired similarly to ours-"

"There could be differences!"

"Even so, Wanda, T'Cha and Wilson all-"

"Do you want to risk an accident happening again?"

"No, but we can't let her be punished unjustly...isn't that what we are here for?"

"GUYS!" Peter shouted suddenly. Barton and Stark stopped, unaware they were raising their voices.

Tony sighed, did Barton not get it? How could he not see that the evidence stacked against her seemed a little too clean, almost as if it was planned? Her character and interaction did not seem guilty and he was certain, from the looks of it that T'Cha was on the right track about her. Moreover, now her husband had shown up and it seemed as though he did not suspect her either. It was clear that her husband had tried to warn her but he arrived a little too late. The way his engine was overloaded suggested urgency and desperation. Somehow, in his mind, he knew even law enforcers wouldn't risk exploding mid-space to catch a criminal.

Her husband wasn't here to turn her in. Her husband was here to save her.

He was about to continue to argue but stopped himself. Clint saw him restraining himself and the pair decided not to pursue the issue further. They worked in silence for a few minutes, before Tony couldn't take it anymore.

"What do you think?" He asked Barton.

"I think she should be punished and serve her-"

"I mean of her husband."

Barton chuckled.

"Decent fella'? What else am I supposed to say."

"Why would he show up here?"

"Help her escape?"

"Exactly!"

"See, she's guilty." Clint insisted.

Tony sighed in annoyance. Somehow, both of them couldn't get along well.

"Hey, uhm...guys...maybe...maybe you wanna see this?"

Parker called from the back of the ship. He was in the room where the surveillance screens were located. On it was several videos of something being loaded and unloaded. The next monitor had some audio being played, but the trio couldn't understand since it was in another language.

"Yeah, it's really cool. Come on, we have to fix this thing."

"No, no, no...listen."

Barton strained his ears and could pick up some alien words. "...Ashir...Bahhku...remai'a...B'naira...Su'ohn..."

"Pete, all I hear is alien garble. It's probably them unloading some cargo. Just ignore it and get back to-"

"Isn't Bahhku the name of Su's dad?"

Tony's eyes widened...wait, what?

 **A/N: Dun dun DUUUUUNNNNNNN! Yay, next chapter (woot woots)! Turtle-tastic, I obviously got inspiration for them fixing Su'mhea's husband's ship (not Su'mhea's) from your review. Thanks for the wonderful idea!**


	14. Locked Me in My Room

The ship was full of data. Not just from the screens and drives and machines located in the ship, the whole cockpit was stained with faint trails of distant memories. These produced a red blurry glow that bore some resemblance to the popular filters that others loved to used on Instagram. The memory trails were too faint for her to see every detail but they melted and fused together like tender whispers or the silence after the sunrise, just before the world awakens. It made visiting the ship so pleasurable and the sensations she got sent tingles all over her. It was similar to visiting a graveyard, where memories would leave a distinct mark behind, so much so that she could not walk in the place for five steps before she was hit with either strong emotions or subtle whispering. That was the effect strong emotions had on one's mind, it projected the emotions, sometimes permanently, onto the objects around you. Now, she sensed strong emotions of rage and bitterness, although she picked up several undertones of guilt. She also sensed a deep sense of urgency and love, although that was probably produced by Su's husband when he had rushed to meet here on this planet. Wanda could tell by the way the scents were rather faint but somehow seemed fresher. The guilt and bitterness evidently suggested that the videos shown were true and that there had been indeed some scheme going on to murder the King. It was a pity there was no way to present her senses as concrete evidence in Su'mhea's defence. Wanda could only use this to convince the team and herself that Su'mhea was not guilty. Still, the guilt and bitterness she sensed could be traced back to Su'mhea, although multiple scans of her mind proved that such emotions were far removed from her. Every memory Su had of her father was laced with content and gratefulness, polar opposites to what Wanda was picking up here.

Speaking of Su, she sensed another being approach the ship. Curious, she made her way to the entrance, only to see Su's husband standing outside. The man stepped back when he saw the lady peek out from the ship's entrance but quickly said something in his native language, which Wanda assumed to be an apology. Hiding her hand behind her back, she made a rapid motion with her wrist, summoning red flames of energy to her side, which silently made their way to the man's forehead. Each important memory flickered for a millisecond in front of her eyes, too fast for her to sense each detail, but enough to get a rough gist of what this man was like. She never hovered in each memory too long, she disliked having to peer into another's secrets. Although she would admit, she was very tempted to know how Su'mhea and her husband got together, she decided it would be best to give them their privacy.

Sensing that he had no hostile intent or hidden agenda, she established a telepathic link between the man to allow communication. Despite having learnt basic words in English from Su and others in the team, she mostly functioned as the translator in Su'mhea's absence, although she could only convey general ideas rather than specific words, relying heavily on imagery and emotions rather than spoken language. Still, she was impressed at his progress, given that she had taken several years to learn how to communicate in English. She sent a package of curiosity and inquiry to the man, wishing to ask why he had come. The man paused before sending her an image of him alone in the room, being stared at by guards. He decided to walk here to see how the repairs were going, since his requests to see his wife were not answered. He quickly sent her emotions of empathy, signalling to her that he fully understood why these rules were in place. Coupled with empathy, was longing and a sharp pang to be with his wife.

Wanda, unsure of how to react, responded with a similar version of that longing, but it was instead for her brother. Carefully, she placed the identity of her brother and the fact that he was dead away so what was sent was only the message of "I empathise with you." The man nudged her mind with appreciation. The link was silent for a while. During that moment, he watched her carefully as she examined the sides of the ship, tracing her fingers along the control panel and absorbing the faint traces of emotions. Pietro had once asked what the sensation was like and her only reply was that it was like walking in a field of lavender lilies while holding a warm cup of hot chocolate and feeling the cool breeze sweep every scent into your nostrils at once. It was a unique experience, one which only she could feel. Nevertheless, it could get distracting, so she oftentimes found it best to be alone before fully immersing herself into the experiences. She had tried explaining this to Vision once and though he was quite contented to hear her talk, he could never understand. Explaining it to Steve was out of the option and the rest of the team were not close to her at all. Su'mhea, however, said she had a similar experience during sunsets or sunrises, where she could feel the light bounce off in every area and the rays dance around her like ribbons in the wind. She said light to every Lu'eon was different from light to humans. For Lu'eons, they had this ability that came along with their ability to manipulate light to see light for what it was, particles, waves and all. She said a simple candle light was different from that of those lamps, that the light from a candle was more ragged and wild. It was raw and powerful, although it was harder to tame. She sighed, she had really been able to bond with her over their long talks. Su'mhea felt like the sister she never had and to be honest, Su'mhea had the strange ability to close up, almost, the gap in her life when Pietro...Wanda sighed and she stopped herself, mentally reprimanding her mind for going that route. Seriously, Wanda, it's been a few years already, let it go. Losing Pietro was enough to shatter her will to live, losing Su'mhea would crush her. And yet...

Turning slightly so she could size up Su'mhea's husband from a distance, she wondered what made Su'mhea fall for this man. She didn't seem like the romantic type and this man wasn't her ideal type either. Pietro would definitely not want Wanda to fall for a soldier and this man was in the army. Su'mhea never mentioned about him although there was no need since his face appeared most of the time in her thoughts. She just never suspected they were married, only that they were close friends or engaged. She tapped the edge of the control panel. Su'mhea liked simple things. She enjoyed the mundane, which made palace life increasingly difficult for her. At least when she was touring around visitors from other planets, she could experience a little bit of freedom and recharge herself there. This man was simple enough. And he was a soldier, which meant Su could spend plenty of time together with him. Caught in her thoughts, she suddenly felt a short prod from the telepathic link. Looking at the man with eyebrows raised, she asked him what he wanted. He replied with curiosity and inquiry. He wanted to know what she was thinking. She sent back hastily a question phrased in a simple picture. _How did you and Su'mhea fall in love?_

His reply. _They didn't._ Theirs was an arranged marriage by the Queen, in an attempt to "tame" Su'mhea. She had found one of the more serious higher ranking guards involved heavily in diplomatic missions and knowledgeable in politics and palace dealings. He was one of the candidates selected for Su'mhea to choose from and she happened to select him, seeing that the other choices were rather dull. Obviously, it didn't work as they were initially quite distant. Su'mhea and he had no significant others, though, they just didn't care for each other that much. It was the typical King and Queen marriage, where the husband and wife simply went about doing their regular duties, each only needing to speak to each other for work purposes. Which was a lot, given the fact that they were in the same line of duty. Then, they both were sent on a mission to gather intel from another planet as rumours were running around that an allied planet was planning to withdraw their trade. They were sent on "diplomatic" terms, although they really were supposed to gather more information. During that trip, they searched for days, trying multiple methods to bargain and bribe others to tell them, even at one point manipulating a close friend of the official. Then, on the second last day, Su'mhea made a decision to reveal their own planet's intentions when they could not find any information. The governing parties were angered. They decided to send the two of them home and, as expected, on the way back, both of them argued about it and refused to speak to each other for several days. Su'mhea even threatened to divorce him. But, the parties contacted their planet's minister in charge of trade and confirmed that they were not withdrawing any trade. They had only reduced trade activity as they were reportedly expanding their business in other industries and wished to focus more on other areas. Upon hearing this, he instantly rushed to Su'mhea in an attempt to apologise. She accepted, although she still remained rather cold towards him. He decided that she hadn't yet completely forgiven him and began to warm up to her, showering her with surprises and taking her out on dates to make up for their horrible fight. Slowly, she was won over. He also started to love her more and although he wasn't sure what made her love him more, but it was after he took her one day to visit an orphanage that she started to treat him better, even though she spilt some liquid onto her clothes and lost one of her jewellery because the kids decided to hide it. He assumed the date allowed them to work closely together again and proved that they were capable of accomplishing tasks as a team. Afterwards, they just became closer and naturally became the loving couple that they now were.

Wanda was so engrossed in Vh'ron's story, she didn't hear the sound of footsteps approaching. Theirs was a truly amazing story and it made her even more sad that they had been separated. She was about to ask more when she heard her name being called. She turned around to see Barton summoning the both of them to a meeting area. Barton's face was a dead giveaway that it was something not good. She didn't need to read his mind for that. So much for spoiling the mood, _Clint._

 _..._

"It's them." Natasha voiced out. _Obviously_ , Wanda thought.

They looked at Su's husband who was now rubbing his hands together nervously. In front of them lay a giant brown ship. All its doors and windows, if it had any in the first place, were sealed shut. For a planet of light, this ship sure looked dark. The man sent her an image and instantly she knew why. It's a prison ship. Not meant for luxury travellers, but for criminals. And, from the looks of things, criminals who had committed serious crimes.

She told the others that this ship was meant to house prisoners.

"No wonder it's so gloomy." Stark quipped. Wanda caught a flash of thoughts from Clint stating that it was not as gloomy as the cells they were kept in after their short "airport squabble", as most of the team had dubbed it. Wanda asked the man whether he would be fine. The man replied with an image of another compartment in the ship where the prison wardens and the guards were. _Where he would most likely stay._ It was not too shabby. She shuddered. Turning to the man, she asked if there were interrogation rooms and he responded with gruesome images of tools that Wanda could only imagine what they were used for.

"There's torture devices inside." She whispered, almost going giddy. In an instant, Vision was by her side, ensuring she was alright. Stark gave a knowing smirk. Wanda rolled her eyes and motioned for Vision to back off. How could he still fall for a girl who had made him plummet a hundred something stories into the ground? Wasn't it humiliating?

Suddenly, there was a light roar and the door to the ship slid opened. Emerging from the dreaded vessel was a woman clothed in silver with blue streaks along her skirt. The alien flinched and dipped his head, placing his hands on his heart. Wanda couldn't care to do the same and the rest of the Avengers were too confused to do anything. The woman had tied her hair into an exotic braid that she was sure the best Slovakian hairdresser could not replicate and an orange hairpin with blue feathers was stuck in between her hair. There was another blue bracelet around her wrist, elaborately designed and her neck was adorned with a heavy metal necklace with a large silver orb in the middle. Wanda scoffed, she was never fond of too much jewellery. This woman had overdone it. She had a haughty air around her and Wanda took the liberty to examine her mind. She realised then that this woman was the Queen and that the men that followed behind were her eldest and second eldest sons. Still, she wasn't going to bow to this obnoxious woman, much less curtsey. It was too girlish and not really her style. World leaders never did much anyway. If they did, her parents wouldn't have died from the missile. The visitor approached the gang and gave a smirk. She turned to the almost trembling man.

"Vh'ron, apir hmm'or orin?" She asked in a dry and sarcastic tone. Already, she wanted to kill this woman.

"I'mmfta orin, ia tarr'u ey mhi'gr." The man replied in a shaky voice. He sent the meanings of these phrases to Wanda, who began to send it to the team. Essentially, this woman was asking for respect. The man had replied with an apology and begged for forgiveness since they were ignorant.

T'Chala began to speak, "Forgive us, Your Highness, for our ignorance, but I believe we have other important matters to discuss." The alien began translating it to the Queen.

"Su'mhea ye'ha mana?" _Where is Su'mhea?_

"Hhra'dir!" Su'mhea appeared from behind them, staring directly at the Queen. She walked straight up to the woman, looking directly into her ice-cold eyes and responded with a raging fire in hers. It burned into her. Wanda sensed the Queen was frightened, but her steel resolve kept her from backing down. A moment passed before the Queen raised her arm and brought it abruptly to her face. The whole team watched in stunned silence. Su'mhea, now kneeling on the ground from the sheer force of the slap, kept her gaze on the ground. Tony made as though he would have shredded the Queen to bits, but Steve restrained him. Sam and Scott gave each other uneasy looks whilst Clint and Natasha was too stunned to say anything. Vision didn't comprehend what had happened and Stark's intern muttered something under his breath. T'Challa, as usual, remained calm, although Wanda noticed his eyes became slightly more intense. Clearly, no one expected her to slap her own daughter.

"Ia tahnik rrhim'ah? Bahhku abe'i ia 'ruah, ia bey'a kia de mbunnir? Ia apir kara? Kia ye'ha mna'ti! Krrna kia!"

 _She's blaming her for the king's death, especially after..._

Vh'ron's thoughts trailed off once Su'mhea stood up. Her head was bent. She stood in silence, breathing heavily. Anger and grief radiated from her, the kind Wanda experienced when she watched news reports of the incident at Nigeria. She moved in to tell Vh'ron of the video and motioned for him to help them translate. T'Challa, sensing what she was about to do, motioned for her to create a mind link between him, the Avengers and the Queen so they could converse. Nodding, she breathed heavily and sent ruby trails to each person and alien present. The Queen tensed, but Vh'ron assured her it was safe.

 _Greetings, I am T'Challa. King of this region. We mean you no harm. I assure you that prior to our contact, we had no knowledge of Su'mhea's deeds, neither did we foresee that she would be one of your people's wanted criminals._

The Queen gave a snort, she clearly did not know the definition of being humble!

 _Now you do. And I'm afraid I need her handed over right now._

Stark interjected and Wanda was sure she heard the Avengers collectively gave a subtle sigh. _Woman, listen. Alright, number one, slapping your daughter upon reuniting with her is not a proper greeting. I don't care if you think she is a murderer or whatever, treat her with some respect. The fact that she had to run away from her family is telling how much you care for her. Two, you should know your daughter like you know your own mind. I've seen her for, what, five weeks, and already she is one of the kindest individuals I've ever met. Murder is totally not her thing. Three, what if we had evidence your daughter didn't kill her father?_

The woman looked squarely at Tony.

 _I mean, it's too bad, you just slapped the life out of her. Made you look like an idiot. An apology might not even be enough now, considering all you've-_

 _What evidence?_ The Queen glared at him, taking much offence at his careless attitude. Wanda facepalmed. This was going to be a long conversation.

 **A/N: Sorry for the long wait!**


	15. My Amygdala is Synthetic

"You know...maybe we shouldn't have agreed to this?" Clint's shaky voice sounded over the communication links. Vision caught Stark rolling his eyes. Behind them, Steve was busy folding a crumpled khaki coloured synthetic nylon shirt into a rather large 89% genuine leather bag. He handed this to Tony who began dumping his gear in, Vision forgot the name of his gear, messing up Steve's bundle of neatly folded clothes, causing the man to give him an exasperated look. Stark shrugged and replied Clint, "Like I said, you're free to go."

Vision chuckled. He heard someone call and he phased his head through the wall to check who it was. It was Ms Romanoff. She held up two sets of denim jackets, "Which looks better?"

"The black one complements the shade of your hair." Vision replied although a surprised glance from Ms Romanoff made him sure he'd say the wrong thing. His worries were quelled when the lady threw the other jacket on her bed. She held up Vision's suggested jacket to the mirror and posed it in front of her torso. She smiled. She turned 73 degrees to each side several times before stating without turning back to Vision.

"I guess it's this one then."

"You're going to a planet to help them solve a crime and all you can think about is how you look?" Wilson shouted from across the hall.

"At least one of us is going to look good doing that!" Natasha called back.

"Be thankful that half of us are staying to protect the earth," T'Challa responded, standing at the doorway. "The ship's almost ready, prepare to take off."

He turned and left the room, motioning for Vision to follow him. They walked into a large hanger where the ship was stored, away from civilians' view. The ship was easily 67 feet tall and nearly 452 feet. At the foot of the ship, the Queen was giving instructions to her sons in their native language. Beside it, guards were fixing up two alien ships, one belonging to Su'mhea, the other was the vessel which her husband, Vh'ron had stolen to arrive at Earth. Both were minuscule compared to the giant vessel that they were being loaded slowly. The engine started to grumble. The Queen stood up and motioned to the guards. She caught his gaze. Vision remembered Wanda had a strong dislike for the woman and although he discouraged it, Wanda said it was fine. She did tell him not to say anything to the Queen about this, though. The Queen then turned to her guards waved her hand, signalling to the guards to board the ship. Vision noticed that several other beings were escorted roughly into the ships, with heavy chains surrounding their necks, making each one stoop low and face the ground near all the time. _They must be prisoners_ , Vision thought.

Glancing to see where T'Challa was, he noticed the King was not fixated at the spectacle of alien technology in front of him but was focused, instead, on something behind them. He realised that Su'mhea had been standing in the doorway, beside her husband, who stood a distance behind. Vision waved to the both of them, but only Su'mhea responded with a weak smile. Her husband raised his eyebrows. Su'mhea ambled forward, placing her hands behind her back. Vision noticed that she suddenly seemed more regal, with her hair strung back in a Dutch braid by an orange ember that was thirty-five shades darker than her eyes and three hues redder. Her posture and steps seemed to echo royalty. Her face seemed to shine radiantly as well, Vision noticed that she also seemed more delighted.

"So, Earth's mightiest heroes travel three hundred galaxies away to discover a new world, a new hub, previously foreign to humanity's astrologists, possibly forming a strong alliance with one of the universe's best trading hubs, unlocking a well of potential technology and knowledge human minds could not begin to fathom and ushering a new age of possibilities. All to help one girl redeem herself." Su'mhea came up to stand beside the two gentlemen, taking in the sight of her planet's people finally on earth. She exhaled, "It seems exciting."

She glanced at the ship before them, exhaling lightly and tapping the steel bar in front of them with her finger. Her husband stood behind, awkwardly folding his arms, but keeping a watchful eye on his spouse.

"I suppose, I must thank you for their generosity."

"No, don't bother with it. It is only an act of kindness." Vision replied, hoping to bring her some consolation. She stood in silence for a while, watching the engineers meddle with the ship, checking the rudder and fuel. Vision let her absorb the sights before turning to face Su'mhea.

"If you don't mind, I have a few queries about when we first met..." Vision began but stopped seeing that T'Challa was also about to say something.

Su'mhea seemed surprised for a while, before giving a reassuring grin. T'Challa motioned for Vision to continue. "Go on."

"For a start, you didn't respond to me initially...I was wondering..."

She smiled, "Ah, that...I couldn't understand you fully yet. I needed more time to process the language. Although it was amusing to see you trying so hard."

"That's a first." Vision laughed, "Not many find me amusing."

"I suppose...I didn't know how to answer you. Or what you would do after. I am still a soldier and there have been instances where talking has landed me near death. In such situations, I've been trained to observe first rather than speak."

T'Challa smiled, seemingly recalling old memories.

"I understand now. And about the time you looked at me."

"When?" She tilted her head to the side.

"You were in the room where we were observing you. Not in Wakanda. There was a one-way mirror- a glass where light can only pass from one side. Your side."

Su'mhea smiled. She opened her palm to the ceiling and her eyes began lighting up, flickering rapidly. Vision watched as the glass in front of them got more and more opaque then gradually became transparent.

Vision smiled. "Of course, you did use your powers."

"Honestly speaking, I was just curious if my powers would have worked on the round orbs up there. We don't have that where I am from."

"You create your own light then?" T'Challa enquired.

"We store our own light. It's hard to explain but...we have a mineral...a rock that can store energy. When it does, it heats up and lights up the place."

Vision turned to the side to see her husband, walking towards them. He was about to notify Su'mhea when her husband gently placed his arms around her shoulders. Affectionately, she tilted her head back, leaning on his right shoulder. She reached up with both her hands and rubbed her husband's arms. Vh'ron whispered something in Su'mhea's ear, causing her to smile. She patted his hand and he turned to face Vision, extending his arm, which Vision shook. T'Challa smiled and did the same.

"Vh'ron..." Vh'ron pointed at himself and spoke with a slight accent. He pointed to Su'mhea, then himself, "Husband."

"Vision." He replied, gesturing to himself. T'Challa responded with his name, followed by his title. Vh'ron tilted his head to the floor and placed his hand near his heart. T'Challa turned to Su'mhea, "I see you've taught him a few words?"

Su'mhea nodded. Vh'ron asked her what he said and she translated it for him. Vh'ron smiled, pointing to Vision with his thumb, "No...human...you?" Vision scratched his head, unable to understand what he was asking.

Su'mhea whispered in his ear something before Vh'ron smiled and repeated his question, "You not human?"

Vision gave a small chuckle, "Obviously not. Well, I'm not exactly a machine either..."

He paused, giving Su'mhea an opportunity to translate what he said. Vh'ron raised his eyebrows.

"Vision...what you?"

"Theoretically, I am a humanoid or, as Mr Stark would say, a synthetic android. But, if you were talking in the philosophical sense, that is highly debatable."

Su'mhea rapidly translated his sentence, stumbling occasionally at the big words Vision used. _Of course,_ Vision thought to himself, _I should speak more simply._ He watched as the Lu'meon finished speaking the last of what he said. Vh'ron opened his mouth, "You made...what?"

"I am made of..."

Vh'ron shook his head, uttering another sentence to Su'mhea foreign to him. _Ia j'kaa linaag apir?_ Mentally, Vision stored the sentence in his database, hoping he could have the opportunity to pick up the language as well. He only wished he had requested Su'mhea to teach him her native tongue earlier, she wouldn't have to translate for him otherwise. In any case, as Tony would put it, better late than never.

Su'mhea spoke, "He asked what...how you came about."

Vision warned that the story would be long and he didn't want to trouble Su'mhea. She brushed it off, stating she was often tasked to interpret for statesmen of ally planets during meetings that lasted well above fifteen hours. They continued speaking, Su'mhea translating for them. Halfway through, a shrill sound interrupted the conversation. Vision was disappointed, he was having a pleasant time. He was fully engrossed in learning about their culture and planet, so much so that he didn't notice the crowd of Wakandans at the side, listening in to their conversations. Half of them had stunned expressions on their faces when T'Challa muttered something in Wakandan whilst others glanced off to the side, clearly embarrassed. He dismissed them with a wave of his hand. The crowd dispersed. T'Challa then turned to Su'mhea and stated that Wakandans were too curious for their own good. She replied that she would be too if she had seen some creature she had never seen before.

The four of them turned to head downstairs to the ship. On the way down, T'Challa stopped Su'mhea.

"Can I...May I..ask you something?"

The air around them chilled. For some reason, Vision started to feel slightly uneasy. The way T'Challa phrased it made it seem as though he was about to ask something personal. In the brief seconds that felt like an eternity, Vision was sure the tension would have made him sweat if he was human. Off to the side, Vh'ron seemed unsure as well, almost hesitant. He looked at Su'mhea for assurance, who seemed thoughtful. Her face was lined with panic. Su'mhea seemed to know where this was going. She breathed and nodded.

"Before I forget, Your Highness...your mother..."

"What about her?" Su'mhea asked.

"I see why you are not too fond of her...given her short-tempered nature and-"

Su'mhea chuckled. "Whatever you wish to ask, just ask. My dislike for the Queen is matched with my dislike for diplomacy and beating around the bush."

T'Challa, for once, caught off-guard paused and glanced at Vision. Su'mhea shook her head. Vision didn't need to be human to understand what she meant. _It's fine, he would have guessed it anyway._

"Am I right in saying that the Queen is not your real mother?"

Vh'ron turned to Su'mhea, clearly nervous at T'Challa's question. He muttered something and Su'mhea hastily replied back. He shot her a glance of disapproval before she dismissed his worries. Su'mhea faced T'Challa and looked him squarely in the eye.

"Yes."

Vision swore he felt a chill run down his spine.


	16. I Wanna Punch You and Your Perfect Teeth

Above Stark, a red light flashed, covering the entire room in flashes of scarlet. The man groaned as he heard an irritating buzzer sound across him. He took a step forward...and crashed onto the floor. The loud noise startled Steve, who shot up immediately. The man glanced around, trying to find what the source of the noise was. All the other Avengers, at least the ones who had volunteered to come along, although "chosen albeit much protests" was a more fitting term for some of them, were sitting up in their own cryo-chambers, frightened by the noise or awakened crudely by it. All, except two.

Well, Tony mused, they were not Avengers. _Not in the same sense._

In the opposite corner, neatly tucked away from the rest of the team, curled up against each other was Su'mhea and her husband, oblivious to the chaos around them. The ruby rays blinding Stark seemed to have no such effect on them. In fact, it seemed to have no effect whatsoever, given the both of them were still soundly asleep. The only sign that they had subconsciously taken note of the red light was that Su'mhea was tightly grasping the back of her husband's shirt.

Nat came and stood by his side, glancing at the two. She gave him a smirk. _What is she-_

Tony looked down at Nat's hands and saw she clutched a pillow in her right wrist. Stark rolled his eyes. _Immature_ , he mouthed. She gave a sheepish smile. She brought her arm back and raised it slightly above her shoulders and in a quick blur, she flung the feathered bag into Su'mhea's back. The dull thud made Sam look at the pair, then back away slowly. Stark would have done the same but caught Natasha shoot him a death-stare, threatening him should he back away and leave her alone to face the wrath of a sleepy alien after two weeks of slumber.

"What?" Su'mhea sat up and looked straight at Stark. From the way she stared at him, it was clear she thought Tony was responsible. Stark opened his mouth to defend himself, gesturing quickly to Romanoff and giving a 50-word explanation as to what really happened. Su'mhea simply narrowed her eyes and groggily told her husband something in their language. Her husband groaned, then swung off the bed and ambled towards the side cabinet, reaching into its drawers and searching for something.

Over the speakers, alien jarble sounded and the humans paused their activity. Su'mhea gritted her teeth and gave Vh'ron some pieces of cloth, Stark assumed was his clothes. The man took it gratefully and squeezed her hand. Standing up, he made his way to the shower compartments, after which, Su'mhea advised the rest of the team to get themselves refreshed. In a half-asleep state, she stood up and gestured to the doors on their right, motioning the way to the bathrooms then murmured about how the shower might not be suitable to their preference. She yawned. Confused, the team simply went ahead and packed their belongings and proceeded to get ready to leave.

 _Or, as Cap would put it, suit up._

Stepping to the side, she proceeded to unpack some of her things into smaller portable compartments. Seeing Tony glance at her made her frown. She gestured for him to mind his business and continued to sort her belongings. Tony grimaced, he had no idea she would be this cranky. He concluded it was from the cryo-sleep and proceeded to unpack his own belongings and gathered whatever gear he had into one bag. Swinging it over his shoulder, he marched out of the room together with Vision, Clint, Natasha, Steve, and Sam. As they walked, everyone naturally split into pairs...Clint with Natasha and Sam with Vision. And that left him...with Steve. _Oh, no...here we go._ Steve decidedly walked behind him, neither overtaking or attempting to keep up with Stark.

 _So he's still not okay...good._

Stark turned to him and Steve immediately set his shoulders back. He had now come to see this as a sign that the Avenger was being nervous. Oddly, much like himself, whenever the Captain turned nervous, he would try to stand tall and pretend he was okay. _Like now._ He sighed. Steve might have put on a formidable facade but Tony was buying none of that. He had seen the Cap at his lowest point and, because of that, he was less intimidated by the man. Not that he would admit to being scared of him before. But Tony had seen him weak and vulnerable and exposed. And, he supposed, the Captain had seen the same from him. Under the Captain's bravery and stature, all Tony saw was a frightened man who was incredibly paranoid of making wrong decisions for himself and his team. Or his family. No difference.

All the Avengers probably still saw him as an indestructible leader. At least his side of the team did. He saw Rogers as a soldier. Just like him. A warrior, put in his circumstances by mere coincidence, driven perhaps by loss and desire to get away from his past.

"Eyes on the road, soldier," Steve remarked to him, suddenly walking in step with Tony.

"Aye, _Captain._ " He replied, huffing out an inaudible murmur.

He stared back at the path ahead and tapped his bag strap twice. Steve didn't seem too interested to start any conversation with him yet. Fair enough, he wasn't too keen on starting one either. But the silence was proving too unbearable.

"I heard from Su the people here are quite friendly."

"Well, obviously...I can see why. They are an intergalactic trading hub. People won't exactly trade with you if you point guns at them and shoot them down."

Tony snorted, "Yeah."

"Wait, when did you start being so sarcastic?"

"I did learn from the best, Stark."

"Aww...you don't have to-"

"I was talking about Wilson."

Tony looked like he was about to curse but restrained himself. Aside, he was sure Rogers was grinning to himself. Seems like the Captain had gotten busy trying to up his game. No matter. He still would not beat him at his own game. He pressed on.

"You must have poor judgement then."

Rogers laughed- _actually laughed out_ -causing the team to turn around and look at them in shock. He stifled a laugh. Embarrassed, he muttered out a small apology before glaring at Tony. He didn't say anything but it might have well been written on his forehead. _Stark, you i_ _diot!_

It had been a long time since he heard Rogers laugh, let alone have the chance to exchange pleasantries with each other. What with being the "self-righteous" and "grave" leader that he was, Steve hardly had any place for joking around and when he did...well, it was almost never around Stark. Not after the "airport skirmish".

"Sorry." Steve blurted out suddenly, causing Tony to almost splutter and choke.

"What did you say? I think I need to hear it again."

He sighed. "Sorry for what happened...I just...it's," he paused, before restating firmly.

"No...I shouldn't have...shouldn't be making excuses for what I did. I thought I was doing the right thing. Maybe I wasn't really, considering half of the team got caught in that cell. But I know that whether I made the right call, I hurt you. I hurt the Avengers and I just want to say I'm sorry. For not telling you about Bucky. And that he...was involved. So right now, I guess I think it means I'm trying to make amends. For real, this time."

Stark squared his shoulders. He caught Steve heave a sigh of relief. It was slight. But for a guy like him, and for a man like Steve, he saw through him. He knew it was difficult for him to say it. The rest of the team heard it too, they all stopped chatting and were now awkwardly bumbling towards the front of the space shuttle.

"Me too." Stark mentioned quietly.

"What...I didn't hear you?" Steve joked, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Hope you packed enough bags. I don't intend on helping you with your souvenirs."

"I never intended on getting any."

"Really? I thought you would want to help that museum across the road with their history exhibition. Maybe you can get a rock from here and place it next to your space in the exhibition."

"Tony..." he warned.

"If you two are done," Su'mhea's voice sounded from behind them, "let's move. The Queen already reprimanded me yesterday for being late. I don't want to listen to her nag again."

"From the looks of it," Clint responded, "You really hate your mum, huh?"

Su'mhea flinched. "Yeah...I suppose you could say so."

"Well, uh...we can begin our journey to the palace. The atmosphere does seem suitable for humans...I should think that the...uhm..."

The team stared at Vision. He was trying to hide something, clearly.

"Let's move." Su'mhea almost growled, surprising even her husband. He was about to ask her something but she shot him a death stare.

Steve mentioned in a hushed voice to Tony and asked if she was okay. Stark sarcastically replied that she was fine, although if he was honest, he would be worried too. The usual chirpy lady was not this jumpy or angsty but ever since she was reunited with her family, it was as if puberty had hit her again. Well...if Lu'eons went through puberty like humans did. Which was strange, considering how Su seemed to miss home. Now that she's back...shouldn't she be happy? Shrugging off his thoughts, he trudged on and the team made their way out of the ship and the view that greeted them was beyond spectacular. Overhead, a small dome kept them sheltered and it coloured the sky a faded orange. The middle of the city was crowned with a giant skyscraper, bearing resemblance to a mansion. The light glinted off the glass and spun around the tower in shades of various colours and made the whole city feel alive. At the top was a circular dome where darkly coloured glass covered the entire sphere. He presumed that was where they were headed.

For now, though, they had to make their way through some marketplace, which, from the hoards of creatures spread before them, seemed like an impossible task. Forty or so guards had already marched forward to clear the way, but most of the citizens there still tried to shove past the guards. He spotted many f them pointing at Su'mhea and shouting angrily at her. He didn't need a translator to understand they probably weren't happy to see her. He gestured to the Captain and pointed out how the crowd seemed on the verge of rioting. But Steve was preoccupied with some other sight.

Nervously, Steve mumbled about the fifty or so grotesque looking creatures perched amidst more human-looking beings. He pointed out that all of them seemed to have furious frowns on their faces. Unlike the Lu'eons, Stark quickly realised that their gazes were not fixated on the missing princess returning from her escape after being accused of murder. They were looking at them. Not a lot of them seemed happy to see a group of "Earthlings" on the planet. Clint tapped Su'mhea and asked about these aliens...he added that Earth, as far as he knew didn't have any contact with any other creatures that stood before them. Su'mhea briefly glanced over, her eyes browsing over each species, possibly mentally identifying each one in her head. She looked at her husband and the two quickly exchanged a couple of sentences. Vh'ron whispered something in her ear and she recoiled back as if realising she had made an error.

Turning to the humans, she addressed them.

"Unless you wish to die, I would advise you not to step out unguarded. Those...beings...", she glared at Steve and Clint, obviously scolding them for their choice of words, "were allies of the Chitauri. Let's go...oh, and-", she leaned in, "careful what you say. I have a feeling some of them know your language."

They trudged through the alleyways, glancing at various artefacts and materials presented in front of them, laid neatly with store-holders proudly hollering about their products. Out of the corner of his eye, Tony spied a white orb that reminded him of his suit's reactor core. Stepping aside, he picked up the shiny sphere and eyed it, holding it up towards the light. The seller smiled at him, pointing at various parts and explaining to him, albeit in her own tongue, which Tony didn't understand. He appreciated the effort though. He glanced at the back of the stall and noticed several blueprints etched in a thin stony surface that had animated scribbles. He smiled. They seemed similar to his own inventions and judging from the way the seller's hair started puffing up with pride, he presumed she was an inventor. Nodding, he moved back to join the group before something bony grabbed his elbow and jousted his side, yanking him backwards.

He would have been fine, if not for the fact that he was alone. In a foreign planet. With fifty or so monsters seeking his blood.

Panicking, he turned around, only to come face to face with a crouching woman tightly gripping his shirt. The lady had a putrid scent coming off her hair and the right side of her dress was drenched in red-ish liquid. The bottom of her dress was torn and her feet were covered in black, clearly because she had travelled from wherever she came from barefoot. Muttering something, she urgently pressed something in his hands. He moved back, starting to feel his heartbeat quicken, mind tracing back to the time when Miriam pressed the bulletin against his face...

The lady started mumbling incoherently, repeating phrases over and over. It didn't help that she had a tan skin and her plumpness bore similarity to the woman whose son was killed during one of the Avenger battles. The image of a dark-skinned boy popped into his head, smiling and alive.

His forehead started to sweat and he pulled the woman away. She cried out in a language he didn't understand.

 _What is happening?_

Tony couldn't hear what she said next. All he could hear was Miriam's shrill voice pronouncing judgement.

 _I blame you._

"No! I tried, I couldn't..." Tony began. His vision blurred. He felt his legs crumble beneath him. Somewhere he heard shouting but it sounded so small next to that woman's voice, ringing in his head like a bell in a cathedral, solemnly charging his guilty for crimes he didn't know he had committed. Slumped over him, a figure appeared to be shaking him. In his confusion, his eyes attempted to focus on the face. The more he did, the more the figure shifted into a threatening short-haired woman.

 _Miriam..._

"No, I won't...I-", the words caught in his mouth as he choked on his own spit. The man rolled on the ground, unable to carry the weight of what he had done and his vision blacked out. The last thing he saw was a young boy, blood dripping from his head, sprawled on the ground under heavy debris.


	17. Never Dropping That

"Tony what!" Rhodes demanded, glancing at the blond-haired agent. He pushed his wheelchair forward, moving towards Sharon. "That man is-"

He gave an exasperated sigh, asking if his friend was alright. Sharon nodded, telling him that the doctors over there have consulted with Vision and they were tending to him now.

"Although, his condition can be cured, the memories remain. He has to learn to deal with them." She stated, using her formal tone, which Rhodes had come to realise was the spy's way of trying to distract him from something. He raised an eyebrow and questioned if something was amiss. Sharon looked away and without hesitation said no. Deciding it was best to leave the matter as it was, he refused to probe her further.

"How's the search going on? Have they found any leads?"

Sharon shook her head. She seemed frustrated that they had agreed to help. After all, she herself had said that if the Lu'eons couldn't find anything, perhaps the humans wouldn't be able to. To which, Rhodes had, in his mind, argued that the Lu'eons probably were looking for someone to accuse and that someone happened to be Su'mhea. Besides, he had a feeling she was not well-liked anyway. Moreover, the Lu'eons were also grieving over the loss of a beloved ruler and that probably affected their judgement.

But he understood the agent was just looking out for this planet's wellbeing. With some of the Avengers gone, it would be harder to tackle challenges should some maniac decide to unleash his master plan to take over the world and rule everything and everyone or something. Still, he was pretty sure the Avengers were not Earth's only line of defence. Having just a team of rough, uncut people pulled together by some secret society hardly seemed like an option the government would rely on. Given the fact that the team had been split up for quite some time, he was certain S.H.I.E.L.D. or at least the FBI would have done something. Installed some defences in place to guarantee this planet's survival.

Then again, where else would this world get superpowered humans?

Finding replacements would definitely take a while. But, the little lady that had crashed to this Earth had somehow seemed important enough to ensure she didn't die an unjust death. And Tony, oh boy! When he set his mind to something, regardless of what rules and restrictions were in place, Stark would be the first one to find ways around it. He was known for beating the system, even when he was younger. That's what engineers do.

"Have you met her before?" He asked the spy.

"Once. She's quite pleasant. Not that intimidating as you'd expect."

"Sure, would have dropped by if I could. Maybe one day I will."

Sharon visibly tensed up. Rhodes frowned. She was acting weird.

"Is something wrong with Tony? Be honest, if he's suffered something that is going to make him relapse into his previous stage..."

"Relapse?" glared Sharon. She tapped her finger on the desk thoughtfully. "He had anxiety problems before?"

"Guess he didn't tell you he had it. So what's wrong?"

Sharon stared at the man, possibly running through in her mind what she should say or not say. She chewed her cheeks silently, a habit that helped her de-stress and think. As thoughts circulated her mind, Rhodes decided to probe further. He repeated his question.

"Is Tony Stark okay?

She gave a small nod. It wasn't enough to satisfy him, though. Something was amiss. He tried again.

"Is anyone else hurt?"

Sharon smiled. "Not yet. But...", she inhaled lightly, "Tony, and his team, his side of the team anyway, they...they have some company with them. It's complicated. See, uhm...T'Challa, he sort of found out about Zeemo before the squabble ended. And he decided that he wanted to make up for his mistake."

"To Cap?" Rhodes questioned.

"To Bucky," Sharon answered. "Bucky, and Cap, and Wanda, and the rest of the team. All hiding in Wakanda."

She glanced at him, eyes wide open and lips pressed together, hands firmly tucked under her legs. Obviously, she was waiting for a reaction from Rhodes but he was deep in thought. _Was that why the government has yet to find them?_

On one hand, he was relieved that his friends were okay. They were alive and they were safe. He was sure that if they were captured and jailed, perhaps even executed then he would never live through that guilt. He didn't want news of his friends' death or capture and, although he didn't realise, each morning he had been scared to watch the news each day, fearing that the article reporting "Vigilantes Turned Fugitives Found and Captured." would pop up. It brought relief to him that such would never happen, while they were in T'Challa's watch.

But, he felt grieved that none of his friends trusted him enough to let him know. And Tony, Tony could have done something to notify him. Sure, the government and other agents probably kept tabs on the Avengers and especially on their activities. He knew Stark's phone calls and what not would definitely be monitored. But Stark was Stark. Couldn't he have worked out a way to notify him? His best pal?

"Are you going to arrest them?" Sharon quizzed, toes pointed inward underneath the swivelling chair she was poised on, with her brows lowered and mouth curled into a frown.

"What? No, of course not. I would never-" he began before stopping himself. Yes. Yes, he would. He had done it before at an airport. But that was before. Before Bucky's name had been cleared, before they knew about Zeemo, before all this mess. And now? He wasn't sure they could trust him again. He wasn't even sure whether he could trust _them_ again. And his legs. They had been broken because of what happened. The Avengers had suffered a casualty and it was him. Would he still be able to partake in their battles to defend Earth? Would _this_ hinder him from donning on the War Armour again? What if the team decided that they didn't want to risk him getting injured or that he was holding everyone back? Would they make him quit? Would Stark support them or him? Would it even come down to that?

He pushed his thoughts away. Now was not the time to deal with these thoughts. Certainly, it was not healthy to entertain them in the first place. He brushed the dust off his shirts, gently picking away the small white flecks that had attached themselves to the checkered fabric that covered his body.

"So, what's going to happen...after they come back?"

"I don't know." Sharon gave an honest answer. "I hope that whatever quarrels they have, they would be able to settle it during this mission. But I think some scars are going to take longer to heal than this side quest. After everything, it feels impossible that we're going to have the team back like before."

They were silent for a while and both Rhodes and Sharon collected their thoughts. Well, mostly him, since Sharon already knew before he did. He decided that it was best to let events play out and see how Tony and the Captain reacted. He firmly believed that if, and only if, these two men could reconcile, it would definitely be the catalyst for the Avengers to become a family again. Stark and Steve, men with similar hearts but differing ideas, were the leaders of the whole gang and he knew that if anyone had any issue to settle, it was mostly between the two of them. As Tony's friend, he was going to stick by his man, unless Tony's actions were directed against humanity, which he knew that day would never come. He guessed that this time, Tony would be outnumbered since he would not have T'Challa on his side anymore.

He chuckled.

 _What if all this doesn't happen and what if both sides actually got to stick together again?_ Negative thoughts and feelings would not aid the situation and as a soldier, he had been trained to go by logic and not what he thought or felt. And in any case, logic told him he should stop worrying about these possibilities. Still, it would be better if he could prepare for such scenarios. And he was also curious about one thing. Tilting his head up to face Sharon, he asked her.

"If the split happens, what side will you be on?"

Sharon smiled and replied, "I will side the Avengers."

...

 **A/N: First up, so sorry for the long wait, I got busy with school work and stuff. So here are two chapters for you released in a very short time. Hopefully, I'll be able to write more and finish this story! (yay!) Again, appreciate reviews or any ideas you would like to see.**


	18. Situation Pointed South

The man stood beside the bed, eyes furrowed in worry. He watched as Stark winced when he was injected with something to calm his nerves. As the needle came out of his skin, he pressed a white cloth against the spot where the needle had been and sighed. Leaning back, he rested his head on the pillow, clearly exhausted by the countless scans he had to go through before the scientists could come up with something suitable for human life that would act as an antidepressant. Or at least lower his anxiety levels.

For what this planet was worth, the amount of technology and resource available was not only diverse but well used. The inhabitants made sure their knowledge matched the superiority of their riches and for one, Steve was glad Earth had done nothing to provoke one of their dignitaries. Such an alliance was something that could benefit the planet and help Earth fight its own battles. And, he mused, it could also prevent life-forms from other galaxies targeting the blue planet or think twice before launching a full-scale attack.

But, even with no aliens attempting to destroy his home, the Captain was sure some human gone berserk would be enough to warrant the planet's destruction. As in the case of Zemo or the Red Skull. Even Hydra proved some humans thrived on domination. A simple plan for revenge could spark the Avengers destruction and ultimately the Earth's doom.

And he had been foolish enough to fall for that plot. Not just him, but a highly trained team of intelligent fighters meant to band together in the direst of situations to protect and serve the world regardless of the innumerable setbacks that would be planted against them. All eleven of them. Falling for a man's scheme. Manipulated like marionettes for a show.

He sighed.

Tony glared at him, then coughed. "You're not the one who has to have twenty-something needles prick your skin all for the sake of stopping your anxiety." He rolled his eyes, clearly irritated that the Captain was the one complaining instead of him. His face softened. _What's wrong?_

Steve had to give it to him. Despite what the world took him for, despite what he had _once_ mistaken him for, Tony really had a heart for others around him. He was the one who had been so shaken by the fact that their fights had caused deaths of innocent civilians. He was the one who tried to negotiate with the Captain when things began falling apart. It was he who, according to his team members, attempted to make up for whatever wrong he thought he did by covertly finding out the Captain's location. And while that only ended in a fight between Bucky, him and Stark, Steve appreciated the lengths he had gone to try and keep the team together.

If he was honest with himself, to Steve, those lives lost were just collateral damage. He had seen it in war. Thousands, no millions, had been killed or massacred or buried alive and there was nothing anyone-soldier, medic, or general-could have done to stop it. Yes, those lives mattered but, in sight of the greater good, he had chosen to focus on the victories instead of the mistakes, which was what would propel things forward.

But it could also turn him cold and calculating and callus to seeing the death toll.

If he was honest with himself, to Steve, negotiating his way out of a dead end was never one that got anywhere. Not with Hydra, not with S.H.I.E.L.D. and certainly not with any governing body. He would rather fight. _Fight_ and suffer. To him, that was the one way to stir up others to question the motives and ambitions of those in authority, to not just blindly follow along but exercise the will to think and the right to be free.

But it could also turn him ruthless and rejecting and rebellious to men with agendas.

If he was honest with himself, to Steve, he would not have the skills nor the heart to go to that length to support Stark had the roles had been reversed. If it came to him to save Stark by using deceptive means, he would be less willing to take those risks. And yet, Tony had done it without question. Using deceit, he had learnt, was one way to be not trusted by others around him.

But this could also mean he was open and obvious and overt.

In an industry where people had often to put on disguises and thrived on false feeds and misleading others, those three traits were things he should not have. But here he was. And somehow, he had survived. So had Stark. Unsurprisingly, given that he had a businessman-like approach to-no. Rogers stopped his train of thought before it turned sour. He looked at Tony, who by then, had a frown on his face. He raised an eyebrow at the Captain. _Do you take me for a fool?_

No, Tony, you are a genius. More than you give yourself credit for. Steve paused, before mentally taking back what he last thought.

"Memories." He answered, but it was enough to make Tony shuffle in consternation. He cleared his throat. Neither of them wished to bring up the past, especially with the last talk they shared. So he simply nodded in response. Which, Steve promptly took as his cue to change the subject. "What happened out there?"

By now, Su'mhea and the rest of the team had appeared, concerned looks melting away at the sight of Stark resting against the backrest of the bed. A witty remark from the man earned an incredibly rare and precious moment where everyone there was either smiling widely or guffawing uncontrollably. Such familiarity was what Steve had missed during the past year. The smug look on Stark's face told him he felt the same. The rest of the team moved forward and greeted him with smiles and pats on the backs, remarking that "he was back" while Su'mhea simply nodded her head. An acknowledgement of his presence. Or a sign that the lady had been upset by this inconvenience to their mission. Ignoring this gesture, he turned to Steve and continued their conversation.

"Some weird lady came up to me. She said something I couldn't understand."

"And you fainted because of that?" Wilson teased, earning hard glares from both himself and Tony. Wilson ducked his gaze in submission, suddenly aware that his behaviour had been considered extremely impertinent given the circumstances Tony had endured. He apologized quickly, before nudging the Captain. "I thought we were on the same side."

His quip only got him an offended look from everyone within earshot who heard it. Even Su'mhea expressed discomfort by rubbing her throat and biting her lower lip. Distressed, the Falcon immediately shut his jaws close and slid to the back.

"How did she look like?" Su'mhea pressed on. "What did she do?"

Tony thought for a bit.

"She looked a bit like you, but way older." He commented. "And she-oh, wait."

He looked in the folds of his coat and took out something. Rogers had thought that it bore a resemblance to some kind of flower, but a closer inspection made him realise it was a cloth of sorts, with flowers inscribed in it. Regardless, he identified it as some child's calming toy, although it looked old and soiled. He showed it to Su'mhea who seemed frightened by the sight of the object in Tony's hands.

Looking around, she took it quickly with pale hands and placed it in her pockets, just as some of the medical staff emerged with the supposed medic running a final diagnosis on Tony. She began breathing rapidly, but only for a moment as the physician turned to her, causing her to smile faintly. The team was rendered speechless by her behaviour, unsure of how to react. Tony seemed puzzled and perhaps it was the medicine, but he was more obtuse at reading the private nature of the event and immediately began prodding her about the object.

"So...what is it?"

Thankfully, none of the staff was able to converse in English. And if so, they probably were clueless to what had happened.

"Probably some child's thing she had. Must have dropped it. I can give it back-"

"She thrust it in my hands like-"

"Oh...is that so? Must have wanted to discard it...I suppose-"

"Su, you're not making any sense."

Turning quickly to the nurses, she abruptly asked them something in her native tongue. The staff and doctors were going back and forth with Su'mhea, leaving Stark feeling irritated and confused. He shot Steve a look, demanding an explanation but he silently gave him a shrug before staring at him hard. It took him no less than a second before he realised it was a request, no, an order, more like, to drop the subject.

From Stark's response, the Captain felt like he would not want to comply with his request.

After the doctors and staff left, Su'mhea hurriedly explained what they said. Before Tony could even make a statement, she turned and rushed out. Not even her husband's calls could soothe her or slow her down. Vh'ron anxiously looked at the lot, pointing at where Su'mhea had gone. The team nodded, understanding if he needed to console her.

Muttering a word of thanks, he rushed to the exit, before turning and gesturing to the lot. "You...here. No move."

And then he was gone.

It was a few seconds before anyone spoke.

"What. Was. That?" Stark was almost fuming, vexedly crossing his arms in displeasure. He glared at Steve, then the team, assuming some of them had an answer for whatever Su'mhea just did. No one volunteered. The Captain was genuinely puzzled as well and he was certain the rest of the team had not an inkling of what was it that made her perturbed. Just then, Vision flinched.

Both Stark and Steve made eye contact. They had not missed that. Questions quickly raced in their minds and both of them somehow found themselves exchanging words without having to speak. A tilt of the head towards Steve told him Tony was in no mood to interrogate the android and he certainly would not be in the right condition either. He sighed. Guess he would have to do the dirty work then...for once.

"Vision, do you know something?"

The synthetic being stiffened. And visibly so. The whole team did not miss it as all attention turned to Vision. Clint raised an eyebrow. Natasha seemed surprised. And Sam, Sam seemed to be confused before realisation hit him. But it lasted only for a second before his eyes turned to their usual blithe look. He raised an eyebrow at the Falcon, who cleared his throat.

"Both of you explain. Now."

They looked at each other, not sure quite how to start.

"It's just a hunch, nothing more Cap. And it's all guesswork. With terrible implications. I'd rather not say."

Tony turned to Vision. "Is it the same with you?"

"No, I mean, yes, but-" Vision inhaled for a while before continuing, the robotic monotone returning to his voice. "It is of a rather personal and private nature and I would rather Ms Su'mhea explain it for herself."

Everyone in the team appeared confused before Natasha eyed the Vision carefully. She must have started running calculations and speculations in her mind, expanding on possibilities and calculating the probabilities of each one before eliminating those unlikely scenarios, as her eyes seemed distant and thoughtful. And she must have reached some conclusion of sorts because her eyes lit up, the way they always did after she successfully hacked something. As quickly as it appeared, it was replaced by shock as the full weight of the revelation settled in. She turned to both Sam and Vision. "Are you serious? You mean-"

She quickly trailed off, realising it was indeed, as Vision said, of a personal and private nature. Tony and Steve still remained clueless. Clint looked at Natasha, trying to read what was on her mind before something clicked and a look of horror showed on his face. The four of them glanced at the Captain and Stark, assuming they would have it figured out. Steve tried to think of something but he couldn't. And apparently, neither could Tony.

"Ask her yourself." Was all they got from their team members.

* * *

When they approached the outside quarters, they spied a female figure hunched over, examining the piece of cloth. Her husband stood numbly towards one side. As they neared, they could hear that the couple were actually whispering, apparently having a conversation meant for private ears. Stark bumbled forward, the look on his face indicated he was under the influence of the drugs he had been administered by, a sanguine smile plastered on his face. Following closely behind in a wary fashion, Steve was hoping the man would not say anything he would have to defend or apologize for.

Nearing the couple, both beings looked up and Su'mhea's countenance obliquely told Rogers she did not desire company in this state. She eyed Tony with dubiety, scanning the men as, in her mind, she skimmed through a myriad of questions they would ask and what she could answer. Not wanting to keep her waiting, Steve began, inhaling sharply.

"Our colleagues seemed to have figured out the reason for your behaviour." Rogers blinked, surprised at how formal he sounded. Tony caught that shift in tone as well and simply stared at him. _Must be the nerves._

"They have?" It was rhetorical. "I suppose it wouldn't be too long before anyone found out."

 _Dodging the subject_. Steve coughed lightly, "It would benefit us in finding the truth if the people I'm working with tell me the truth. Besides, it is clear that you are hiding something." _Again._

"It is a secret I have managed to keep from most of my subjects. I do not mean to impose anything on you, but _sir,_ I believe I have a right to my own privacy. And I don't think that information is necessary for you to solve the case...if that is your concern."

She stood up and locked eyes with him. Even though they were tinged with red and swollen, her emotions did not mask the way her eyes pierced into him like saw-edged daggers boring into flesh. In some ways, it reminded him of the way the Queen had looked when she was angry with someone else. But different. Her mother had eyes of a blizzard, calculative and chilling. When she made eye contact, it felt like a northern wind. For some reason, Steve concluded that her heart was also as cunning as her stare implied she was. He noted that, if he were to compare the stares of both women, Su'mhea had to have the eyes of an inferno. Raging, vehement and scorching. Her stare was not lifeless and dull, but passionate and empathetic. There were reasons behind her fury and he believed she would not have done what she did if she didn't feel convicted to. Nevertheless, she had lied. And he needed the truth.

Attempting to win back some ground, he threw back his shoulders and moved forward by a step. She flinched.

Dropping her gaze, she rolled her eyes and breathed deeply, turning to face Vh'ron as volumes of silent conversations occurred between them. Her husband stood at the side, looking as though he would pounce on the Captain any time. He restrained himself from becoming defensive and simply observed the silent conversation that unfolded, waiting for Su'mhea to accede to his request. Somehow, both men were aware that Vh'ron was watching and his presence should have impacted the way both of them dealt with the situation. But he had been so caught up in convincing Su'mhea that her husband had just faded into the background. It bespoke of his skill as a soldier. The ability to remain unseen was something many men lacked. He had to remind himself not to smile as he recalled the many times an untrained recruit had given away their position simply because this skill was wanting.

Vh'ron croaked softly, breaking the Captain's train of thought. "Tell him."

Su'mhea sighed and began. What she said next was unexpected.

"The Queen is not my real mother. I'm the result of an affair. An affair that ripped the King's family apart, sent my mother crazy and caused all my siblings and the Queen to have unadulterated hatred for me. It also resulted in my mother being removed from my presence and the palace when I was five years old, which was what made her go insane in the first place. My real mother, the woman that you saw, is currently detained at some asylum. She must have escaped and found you. She could have seen us together since the asylum is not too far from the marketplace. What she gave me was an item that I carried around as a child."

She glanced up at the men, who by now had eyes almost bulging out of their sockets at the revelation.

"Would this have helped your case, detectives?" She asked spritely, eyes twinkling wryly.

"No-o, but..." Tony mused, "I-I would never have guessed. I thought it..."

"What was her name?" Rogers probed.

Su'mhea, taken aback by his question, promptly replied. "I don't know. They never told me."

She quickly added, "Don't...feel sorry for me. I hardly know her."

Deep within his heart, he felt a twang of misery for the lady but wisdom and experience prevented him from expressing what he truly felt. After all, he'd lost his parents too. And at a young age. Only to be tossed into a world of hatred and bullying.

But Su'mhea didn't want to be treated as a victim. And he understood that, too.

...

 **A/N: Okay, so I finally realised you could insert a horizontal line in stories and you don't need to do the "..." thing to show a time lapse. Whew! Anyways, sorry for taking a while. I'm going back to school soon, so...ahem less time for stories. (Not that I was quick to update anyways...sorry!) I'll try to release a chapter soon before school starts so that would keep you all occupied. Also, my chapters are getting longer! Yay! Not sure if that's a permanent thing or just because the details and plot are thickening. Whatever the case is, thank you all for your support and I am happy to see people reading my stories.**

 **I'm thinking of going back to edit some chapters...let me know if you spy a grammatical error or if a character seems weird. Also, the edit won't really change much of the storyline because that is already fixed. It'll only make the story more coherent and in line with what the characters would do. Appreciate the feedback if you have any?**


	19. Orange slices

"What we looking for?"

"Anything suspicious. It's clear the King died of poisoning so look out for, you know, powdery substances and the like."

"Roger that...uh Wilson." The miniature man in red paused, a single finger laid on the communication device in his suit. "It's Wilson...right?"

He heard a sigh followed by static. The Falcon had disconnected and stopped pressing the button.

"Okay...powder...liquids..." He raised an arm and immediately, thirty bug-like creatures emerged from the crack on the wall behind him. Apparently, Su'mhea had found a nest of creatures near the palace the people called "Maka'is" that she had said behaved similarly to ants and to his delight, they responded to the same frequencies that his six-legged friends on Earth responded to. All of them were pretty small and unnoticeable. Even when Scott had shrunk down, the height of the creatures barely reached his waist. They were like a cross between spiders, wasps and had fish-like scales on their torsos. The rear end, presumably their abdomens, had three yellow curved spikes that edged outward. Their front legs had claws which they could use to pick up food or in this case, samples of whatever Scott would have found. The eyes were attached to the side of their heads, green and large.

He let loose a chuckle as he distinctly recalled the first time he had shrunk down, he had been intimidated by the creatures that he immediately shifted back to regular size. Su'mhea and Vh'ron could only eye him disappointedly as the two of them proceeded to pick up some creatures. Instead of stinging them, much like he had thought those ferocious things would have, the Maka'is simply buzzed and rubbed their heads eagerly. One even went so far as to rest its abdomen on Su'mhea's hand, curl up and fall asleep.

As if on cue, both Su and her husband caused small pellets of light to appear on their hands and the creatures immediately pressed their mandibles against it, consuming the photonic energy. The alien had explained that these creatures were non-aggressive, successful attempts to provoke one was extremely rare. Nevertheless, she simply warned him that if any of them suddenly were to attack him, providing them with nourishment was usually enough to calm down. In any case, these creatures' stings were curable and treatable.

Just then, one of the Maka'is proceeded to nudge him from the side. The creature sniffed around him, curiously tapping his foot with a claw.

"Alright...just one, buddy. But get back to work after."

Scott tossed a small glass container that Su'mhea had given him just in case some of them got hungry. The creature leapt into the air before proceeding to scurry off with its prized possession, stuffing it in its mouth before any other of his friends noticed. Scott shook his head and proceeded to scan the room. Su'mhea had given them a breakdown of the family and told them her biggest suspect was the eldest. He had always sought for a chance to bring her down and the others were only following suit. Moreover, she had said that killing the King would mean that he could be the one in charge and that it wasn't surprising as her brother definitely didn't mind being in charge.

Looking around at his surroundings, he briefly hopped down from the shelf and curled into a roll just as his feet touched the ground, spreading out the impact of the fall to a minimum. He gazed up at the monumental-sized table before him and sighed before grabbing the small dents on the table for leverage as he scaled up the leg. While the height of the table wasn't too high, thankfully, it still took him awhile before he reached the top and by the time he did, five minutes had passed. He scanned the vast plain of some sort of wood-or was it glass?-before him, his eyes looking for anything that seemed suspicious. He did so quickly as his experience as a thief had taught him that most criminals would hide their evidence out of plain sight, usually in secret spaces or hidden shelves where the police and detectives would most likely miss. And Su's brother appeared to be an experienced criminal as well.

He moved from the table to a nearby couch, scaling up the massive thing in order to look for what item he should search next. One thing he hated when he was this small was how much he needed to climb. If he was back on earth, he would have ants carry him from one furniture to the next. But this was not Earth. And as much as he liked the little creatures that accompanied him on his excursion, they had no wings. Meaning no flight. Which left him with the only option of climbing everything. The couch he was ascending was far easier to climb, the tufts of fabric were easier to grasp and if he were to fall, the soft cushions would catch him. Nonetheless, it was tiring for him.

Just then, static whirred from his communication device. The noise almost made him lose his grip.

"Whoa! What?" He said, a tinge of irritation laced around the edges of his voice.

"You found anything?"

"No, why would I-it's only five minutes..."

"I tried to stall him, but it's not working."

Wait, what?!

He looked up just in time to see the giant that was Su's brother emerge in the doorway. He whispered, "Be quiet!", before shutting the communication device off. He dove behind a bigger tuft of fabric to hide and sent a frequency to the bug-like things to hide or at least take cover. Feeling his heartbeat quicken, he placed his hand on his chest in an attempt to calm down. His pulse became more erratic when he saw a shadow being cast over the exact spot he was hiding in. Guided by raw instinct, he dropped down and rolled away, narrowly avoiding someone's thighs. He slipped away between some cushions and ensured he was carefully hidden away. Glancing up, he realised that his previous spot was now occupied by a much a larger man...alien...being which would have crushed him if he had not moved. Taking in deep breaths, he hopped upwards, stealthily sneaking past towards the edge of the couch and around the arms just as the man straightened his back.

The sudden movement distracted Scott and his grip loosened. His right arm shot up and, in reflex, grabbed the first thing he felt. Groaning softly, he reached down with his left foot in an attempt to gain his balance back. A streak of panic shot through his mind as his foot found no footing. Digging into the couch with his foot, he tried to pull himself. Bad move. The sudden strain made his arm start shaking with pain. Switching to his left arm, his weaker arm, he tried again...sweeping his body up in a quick motion before tucking his legs in. As he did so, his knees felt a dent in the otherwise smooth surface of the couch and jammed his leg to prevent him from falling back down. It worked.

 _Success._

Using the momentum, he hauled himself over the armrest and slid down the leg and onto the adjacent shelf. He almost gave a cry of victory but restrained himself. Sheepishly, he rubbed his head. "Nice going, Scott. Way to ruin the mission. How stupid would that make me look in front of the rest of the team."

A growl escalated from the alien on the couch. He twitched at the sound. It took a while before he realised it was him murmuring something in his language. He sounded mad...as if something bad had happened. Like him having a bad hair day. Or something going wrong. Maybe a ruined plan? Raising an eyebrow, he took out the communication device. "Hey, you all might wanna record this."

Flipping a switch, he continued to search the room.

* * *

"Well?" Wilson egged Su'mhea on to take a second listen, certain that Lang would have caught something, especially since he had caught the King by himself ranting about whatever that was happening. Surely something about murder or at least something about poisoning _someone_ would have popped up in the monologue.

Su'mhea shook her head. "It's all politics and administrative complaints. Nothing about...well **that**."

She gestured to a nearby table where Tony and Lang were both placing chemicals and substances and weird science stuff that he and Su'mhea had only an inkling of an idea about. He watched as liquids fizzed and flames crackled and machines beeped. All those things to him probably meant nothing but for Tony, the genius that he was, probably had formed conclusions enough to fill a whole database of research databases. And Scott, while not really a chemist, had some engineering background from what he heard...which was fairly impressive.

The Captain was observing at the side, occasionally handing the two men whatever they needed. Although he had mostly gotten used to the idea of technology and science, he was still easily fascinated by these discoveries and would try to read up whenever he could, although moments like these were rare given how often he was required to travel on missions. Just as the man was about to examine the small vial, his protruding finger was whacked by Tony, glaring at him and mouthing some words. Behind, Vh'ron conversed with Clint who had taken upon himself to teach the being new vocabulary. Both of them seemed unperturbed at whatever mess that was spread before them, although Wilson definitely knew Su'mhea's husband was trying his best not to make her any more flustered than she already was.

What with the need to examine interviews and transcript languages, which was well within her field of expertise, and to read between the lines, collate data and evidence sufficient to accuse someone, which wasn't, her exhaustion showed in the way she mostly squinted when reading texts and responded to any questions posed to her with short grunts and words if possible.

"Okay, we got what we needed, just need to take blood samples from you." Scott gestured to the alien seated. He eyed Clint and beckoned him to come with a finger. Turning to Su, he pressed a white cloth against her shoulder and wiped it. He glanced at the spot and flicked his it repeatedly several times. Grabbing a syringe from opposite of him, he rubbed the silver needle and adjusted it. Handing the tool to Barton, he stepped back and licked his lips, folding his hands and tucking them under his chin.

He looked to Clint, then Su'mhea and gave a quick nod. Clint steadied Su'mhea's shoulder and asked her to take a deep breath slowly. As she exhaled, he gripped her shoulder and brought the needle to her skin. He breathed.

It went in.

Su'mhea shivered and gasped inaudibly. Her eyes widened for a second before she lowered her shoulders and brought herself to glance at the syringe sticking out of her shoulder. She looked at Barton and whispered her thanks. Clint shook his head and exhaled, taking the transparent tube connected to the empty IV container hanging from a silver pole above them and attaching it to the syringe. He brought the bag lower to let gravity aid the process. It took a moment before red liquid oozed from her skin and trickled into the bag.

Su'mhea leaned back and closed her eyes and Scott took it as a request to be let alone to rest. He signalled the rest of the team to leave while he and Stark stayed to watch and continue their "experiments".

Emptying the contents of a transparent container, he placed the material in the water-filled beaker and swirled it around at the same time his hand tapped the screen at the side, starting the countdown. Both of them watched the powder gradually dissolve in the beaker and Tony began typing his observations. Scott meanwhile waited for the colour change to reach completion. He eyed the beaker and swirled it furiously, willing the powder to disappear completely. He watched as the green dust settled on the surface, spots appearing and reappearing where it should have been gone by then. He waited and waited and waited, but still, the green spots remained. Finally, after an excruciating wait, the emerald pigments were gone. He pressed his finger to the screen again, his eyes lingering on the number that showed up. His instincts had told him that the powder was the one, the suspicious pack of green that had been cleverly hidden under the closet, pushed behind the peaks of books and digital tablets. He looked at the timing.

 _3 minutes and 47 seconds._

Holding the beaker up, he looked at Tony, hoping that he had somehow arrived at a different conclusion than he had. Stark briefly looked at the monitor, then he shook his head. "Too slow...the reaction doesn't qualify...also, that colour change would have been noticeable enough. These ones...however...", he waved his hand towards the general direction of a crowd of beakers that contained still transparent liquids, "may qualify...if the symptoms are accurate. Now we just have to wait for her blood to test out on."

Scott stood stupefied. Stark had improvised a way to test these simultaneously and while he had only been focused on the one beaker in his hand, Tony-with the help of his technology of course-had divided his attention to what seemed like twenty other tubes. "You-you...already...what?"

Tony shrugged, passing him another set of beakers to work on. Coughing, Scott continued.

After an hour, they stood at the edge of the table, gazing proudly at the fifty or so possible samples they had tested. Surely the poison was in one of them.

* * *

 **A/N:** Helllloooooo! Sorry for the long wait, but it's finally here! My pace is unforgivable and I'm really sorry it took so long. On the bright side, I kind of forgot about Antman and did the next chapter before this...oops! So the next chapter will probably take a quicker time to complete. In the meanwhile, REVIEWS are appreciated. Thank you!


	20. Justice Will Come Soon Enough

T'Challa analysed the feed given to him once. Twice. Thrice. Something was not adding up. What exactly, he still wasn't sure. Given the information that Su'mhea had given him and the alibi of said suspects, it seemed as though those suspects were as innocent as Su'mhea was. It was unnecessary to doubt what Su'mhea had said, Wanda had confirmed that she was telling the truth. As much as his instincts told him otherwise, he had to ensure that Su'mhea was being completely honest with him.

 _Even though she lied to us twice without any of us realising._

He sighed and wearily tapped his forehead, scanning the list of possible suspects. He tapped the monitors repeatedly, eyes ardently scanning for possible loops and inconsistencies, but there were none. He let out a low but audible growl, something that was rare for a man of his conduct, and turned to a file that contained the list of the profiles of the royal family. Su'mhea suspected the eldest had wanted her gone, seeing as she was the next contender for the throne and from the memories that Wanda had seen, the eldest sibling wasn't too fond of her. But whatever Scott Lang had managed to find wasn't compatible with the way the King was poisoned, at least when tested against Su'mhea's blood. For some reason, Tony insisted they had to test on her husband too, although both of them were of the same species and in effect, would have had similar reactions to any substance. Yet Tony persisted and thankfully, Vh'ron acceded without too much of a hassle. But even that didn't produce fruitful results. Either her brother was adept at hiding something or Scott had missed what he was searching for. As an ex-larcenist, T'Challa was compelled to think he would know best where one would hide something valuable. Still, the eldest seemed to be the one with the most motive to pull such a move. With his mother humiliated, his family's reputation was not only ruined, he now had a new contestant for his rightful heritage. Logically, his father would be seen as reprehensible and it was no wonder he detested the King and Su'mhea. And for that reason, so was the fifth siblings. Both of them would definitely look for chances to get her into trouble. The second and the fourth, not much.

The King of Wakanda smiled. He too had his fair share of sibling rivalry. But there were other means of ensuring Su'mhea's demise, assassinating their father certainly was not even on the list of options, given how much the younger siblings were that close to the King. Furthermore, he was certain that no matter how power hungry the eldest was, it made more sense to eliminate the siblings, not the current monarch. And Su'mhea was already an Ashir; she could not be Queen or ruler anymore than T'Challa's sister, Shuri, could rule Wakanda.

Although...the more he thought about it, he knew that there could be a possibility that they simply did not want her in their family. And it made sense since she was an illegitimate child, bourne by a palace servant whom the King fell in love with. Every sight of her was bound to rankle any member of the family, save the King. A child who had torn apart their own family and caused multiple problems which, he was sure, they would have to work hard to cover up. But rumours would have definitely spread. _She was a royal disgrace._

He blinked then scanned the files again.

But to kill their father?

T'Challa looked at the records, then clicked on the two most unsuspecting ones. The second and fourth sibling. The ones Su'mhea had said were the least likely to be involved. According to her, it was unlikely that this was an assassination attempt from another planet or dignitary as the way it had been carried out was specific. Too specific. An outsider to the royal family would have no way of planning such a threat and, as far as she knew, even if the plan was initiated by someone outside, _one of them_ had to be the one to carry out the dirty work.

After all, it had happened when she was in the same room with her father. And it had happened after the new tea stock had arrived from an allied planet. And it certainly wasn't a coincidence that the tea that had been delivered was already prepared.

Several of the Avengers had suggested looking at other stocks, but that trail was leading nowhere. All of them were accounted for and none of them was stolen, so it was increasingly plausible that the poison had been inserted in between the kitchen and the room. Which made even less sense considering the servers said they saw nothing suspicious and that the chefs had denied the possibility of them poisoning the King. The royal family even said that it was unlikely since the tea would be tested by multiple people on multiple occasions before being sent out and the results were shown to be negative.

No poison. Not even any trace of whatever the King seemed to be allergic to. No leads. Closing his eyes, he thought for a while.

The eldest. He faintly recalled hearing Su'mhea say that he was the one who would be patrolling the halls, given that he was in charge of administrative affairs. And if that were so, would it be hard for him to sneak something into the King's drink? He opened his eyes rapidly.

He looked at the route which the servants took. It would definitely pass by the sibling's quarters and the servant had reported being called by the eldest's Secretary for a moment.

Earnestly, he typed a message to Tony, explicitly telling him to find out more about the first sibling. If needed, he could record the interview and send it back to him. It was highly probable he could be the one behind this murder. He mentioned in great detail how to be cautious and warned him not to accept anything from him, decidedly because he could be at risk of poisoning. As an extra note of caution, he advised Stark to be on the lookout for when he would quietly slip away from the crowd. He also suggested hiding a recording device in the prince's quarters to gather extra data. As he finished, he read through the message once more, then paused.

 _How could Stark interact in a way that would not draw suspicion?_

He tapped his fingers on the edge of the monitor, frowning as he tried to come up with one. It was like tracking down a particular buffalo during migration, nearly impossible. Sure there were several options but he couldn't narrow it down to something he was sure would be even useful. Unless it was Su'mhea who did the talking. He closed his eyes, mentally calculating the possible risks and outcomes, before arriving at the conclusion that letting the prince feel at ease and risking Su'mhea's life was far less risky than having the prince suspect something was wrong and causing in him attempting to assassinate all of them.

"What are you doing?" A voice piped up from behind him. He turned around, although he already knew by the sound of the woman's voice that the Scarlet Witch had come to pay him a visit. His guards, as usual, stumbled in from behind him, murmuring, in a language she didn't understand, how they couldn't keep _her_ out. In truth, he knew the guards wouldn't do anything partly due to her powers and how much the people in Wakanda feared her. It could also be because they knew she was an ally and were instructed to keep out people who were a nuisance. He smiled and pointedly gestured at the monitor. She looked through the details and scanned them quickly, eyes darting around the data. Knowing she would be here for awhile, he dismissed the guards and charged them to not let others disturb him or enter his office. Bowing, the two guards mumbled a response he didn't bother deciphering. He turned his attention back to the auburn-haired lady.

Wanda, while disruptive for a woman her age, was less prone to chat than most, so she definitely was less of a nuisance than others. Glancing to see that his guards had already returned to their posts, he answered her question politely, greeting her for a brief moment before returning to his work. Maximoff took it as an invitation to look through what he had noted, though she was cautious not to break anything. He also noticed, that when she was in his presence, she used her powers less frequently and simply walked over and picked up the tablet like any normal human being would. She looked through the details and scanned them, eyes darting around the data.

"That is a solid conclusion." She slid the tablet down and sat down on a stool at the other end of the room.

He replied in impassive fashion. "Hardly solid enough. It would be typical for anyone to suspect as I did. When crimes of such a scale are committed, the eldest is the first everyone suspects. Though in this case, it is slightly different, for reasons, no doubt you already know. My conclusion is not an identification of the suspect based off facts I have observed, but rather, steps that the investigative team can take to find out more."

"Still, you've managed to narrow down a list of targets. Pretty impressive."

"Did you doubt my abilities?" He raised an eyebrow. Wanda stepped back and widened her eyes, stiffening as she realised what she just said. Or what she implied. This lady still had much to learn when it came to navigating the diplomatic landscape of royalty. Although, it wouldn't matter much, given she had mind-reading abilities. She just had to use them. However, he considered that she had let her guard down and had thought T'Challa would have been less callous than he was now. But he wasn't about to lower his defences just to make her comfortable. He decided she would just have to be warier.

"No, not-not at all, Your Highness."

"At ease, Wanda." He let out a small chortle. "Jesting a monarch is no cause for punishment in Wakanda."

"Of-f course." She gave a blithe smile.

Realising that they had not much to talk about, Wanda sat in silence, not quite sure what to do. She fiddled with the edges of her sleeves, a habit T'Challa found out she had picked up from spending time with one of his guards. As he completed other assignments not related to Su'mhea's case on his private monitor, he decided to observe the young lady for a while.

She seemed to have something on her mind and she certainly did not approach him out of boredom. Wanda was not one to disturb others if she needed entertainment, T'Challa had found out, and even when she did, he was always one of the last few she approached. So she had come with a certain motive in mind. He watched, as slowly her fingers went from playing with her sleeves to flicking and curling, much like she would have done if she was levitating something. Except instead of bringing them above her shoulders, they were at her side. Her eyes were fixated on her hands and her attention seemed distant. Was she playing a memory in her head?

Frowning, he watched as she repeatedly made some vague motion with her hand. No doubt, she was practising a move that she had learnt. Something that T'Challa had only seen her do when she felt helpless or useless. Then, something clicked.

"You must be missing her." He commented, an invitation to share what was on her mind.

"I suppose." She began, carefully thinking how to phrase the next line. Good, she was learning. "I was first to see what happened, to Su I mean...it was shocking...she had to-" she shuddered lightly, "end her father's suffering early. She did that to her father...I can't imagine what she had to go through. When she removed the dagger, her brother came in and blamed her."

T'Challa nodded to show that he understood.

"I did not say anything because I felt it would not be a big deal. If I had said something, maybe it could have changed."

"Her mother tried to visit her."

"She did?" Wanda's eyes opened, mortified at the fact. She had seen glimpses of what the woman had become, crazed, demented, unsure...to see her mother in such a state was something no one should have to go through. She grimaced as she thought of how she would react should the same happen to Pietro. _How could this woman stay so strong amidst all this? She must be crumbling inside._

"If it helps," T'Challa began, snapping Wanda out from her thoughts, "there are things you could do to aid the mission. If you are good at figuring out what people think and have strong intuition even without your powers, then you might wish to look through the suspect profiles. Soon, we may have audio files or reports on individual members of Su'mhea's family. Look through them and perhaps you may find some plotholes."

Nodding, Wanda accepted the role gratefully. She perused the files and paused at the report. Sensing something was wrong, T'Challa straightened his posture and asked her what was wrong.

"This is the image of the tea that the King drank?" She asked, pointing to the digital photograph the Avengers had sent. It was a bag of opened containers with orange flowers that had been brewed into a dark coloured liquid.

"Yes."

She looked at it then closed her eyes. When she opened them she shook her head, then flicked her wrist towards the Wakandan. An image filled his mind, the memory of Su'mhea bringing the tea to her father. The liquid was almost the same but he noticed immediately that the petals of the flower were definitively different. As the tea was stirred, petals floated to the surface. T'Challa felt his stomach turn as amidst the orange flowers, a single purple petal innocently swam in the liquid, before sinking to the bottom of the cup.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello helloooooo! Here you go...I hope no one was waiting too long for this. Anyway, the plot is thickening and the next chapter will definitely be more action-packed. I'm not really a person who writes fights well so sorry if that was what you all were expecting. Anyway, I'll try to upload soon, before Christmas at least so hang in there.**

 **By the way, Black Panther is one of my favourite characters in the MCU and I hope I managed to portray him accurately without him being too serious and grave. Reviews appreciated!**


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